Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 6 Articles
Background: Studying the factors associated with the use of dental services can provide the necessary knowledge\nto understand the reasons why individuals seek out public healthcare services and the formulation of more\nappropriate public policies for the present-day reality.\nMethods: This work was a cross-sectional epidemiological study consisting of a sample of adults found in a research\ndatabank concerning the conditions of the oral health of the population of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This study\nexamined both main oral health disorders and relevant socioeconomic aspects. The dependent variable was\ndefined as the type of service used, categorized under public and private use. The independent variables were\nselected and grouped to be inserted in the analysis model according to an adaptation of the behavioral model\ndescribed by Andersen and Davidson. A hierarchical model was used to analyze the data. The description of\nvariables and bivariate analyses were performed in an attempt to verify possible associations. For each group of\nvariables at each hierarchical level, the gross and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and the respective 95% confidence\nintervals (CI) were estimated by means of logistic regression. The Complex Samples model from the SPSS statistics\nprogram, version 19.0, was used to analyze the sample framework.\nResults: In the final model, the factors associated with the use of public healthcare services by adults were directly\nrelated to the socioeconomic and demographic conditions of the individuals, including: being of a dark-skinned\nblack race/color, belonging to families with more than four household residents and with a lower income level,\nresiding in small towns, having more teeth that need treatment.\nConclusions: According to the findings from this study, socioeconomic and demographic factors, as well as\nnormative treatment needs, are associated with the use of public dental services....
Background: To evaluate the effects of the lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus salivarius on caries risk factors.\nMethods: The study was performed in 64 healthy volunteers to evaluate the effects of L. salivarius-containing\ntablets on caries risk factors. The participants were divided randomly into four groups, and took tablets containing\nL. salivarius WB21, L. salivarius TI 2711, OvalgenÃ?® DC (antibody against glucosyltransferase from Streptococcus\nmutans), or xylitol. Levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli, amount of salivary flow, salivary pH, and salivary\nbuffering capacity were assessed before and after taking the tablets. Subsequently, a short-term administration\ntrial using L. salivarius WB21-containing tablets was performed in eight healthy volunteers. The participants took\nL. salivarius WB21-containing tablets (2.0 Ã?â?? 109 colony forming units/day) for 2 weeks, and the numbers of mutans\nstreptococci in saliva were counted.\nResults: The levels of mutans streptococci seemed to decrease in the L. salivarius WB21, TI 2711, and OvalgenÃ?®\nDC groups compared to the xylitol group, with no significant differences between the groups. Lactobacilli levels\nsignificantly increased in the L. salivarius WB21 and TI 2711 groups compared to the other groups. Concerning\nsalivary flow and salivary pH, no significant differences were observed between the groups. The salivary buffering\ncapacity significantly increased in the L. salivarius TI 2711 group (P = 0.003) and OvalgenÃ?® DC group (P = 0.002)\ncompared to the xylitol group. The short-term administration trial showed that the L. salivarius WB21-containing\ntablets significantly decreased the number of mutans streptococci (P = 0.039).\nConclusion: L. salivarius-containing tablets were suggested to increase resistance to caries risk factors....
Background: The objective of this study was to analyse the readability of paediatric oral health education leaflets\navailable in Australia.\nMethods: Forty paediatric oral health education materials were analysed for general readability according to the\nfollowing parameters: Thoroughness; Textual framework; Terminology; and Readability (Flesch-Kincaid grade level\n(FKGL), Gunning Fog index (Fog) and Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG)).\nResults: Leaflets produced by the industry were among the hardest to read with an average readability at the 8th\ngrade (8.4 �± 0.1). The readability of leaflets produced by the commercial sector was at the 7th grade (7.1 �± 1.7) and\nthe government at the 6th grade (6.3 �± 1.9). The FKGL consistently yielded readabilities 2 grades below the Fog and\nSMOG indexes. In the content analyses, 14 essential paediatric oral health topics were noted and Early Childhood\nCaries (ECC) was identified as the most commonly used jargon term.\nConclusion: Paediatric oral health education materials are readily available, yet their quality and readability vary\nwidely and may be difficult to read for disadvantaged populations in Australia. A redesign of these leaflets while\ntaking literacy into consideration is suggested....
Background: Dental caries is the most common microbial disease affecting mankind. Caries risk assessment\nmethods, identification of biomarkers and vaccine development strategies are being emphasized to control the\nincidence of the largely preventable disease. Pattern recognition receptors such as the toll like receptors (TLR) have\nbeen implicated as modulators of host-microbial interactions. Soluble TLR-2 and its co-receptor, CD14 identified in\nsaliva can bind the cell wall components of cariogenic bacteria and modulate the disease process. The objective of\nthis study is to determine the potential of salivary sTLR-2 and sCD14 as biomarkers of caries activity and indirect\nmeasures of the cariogenic bacterial burden.\nMethods: Unstimulated whole saliva was collected from twenty caries free and twenty caries active children\nbetween the ages of 5 and 13 years. The concentration of sCD14 and sTLR-2 together with that of the cytokine IL-8\nreported to be increased in dental caries was assessed by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.\nResults: While the level of sCD14 and that of IL-8 was equivocal between the two groups, the sTLR-2 concentration\nin caries active saliva was significantly higher than that in caries free saliva.\nConclusions: The sTLR-2 in saliva could serve as a potential biomarker for caries activity....
Background: Recently, the dental literature has focused mainly on the microbial colonization of healthy full-term\ninfants and their mothers or caretakers. However, oral microbial acquisition by premature infants has not been\nadequately investigated, and the correlation between pre-term birth and the presence of cariogenic and\nperiodontal pathogens has not been determined. The aim of this study was to identify the presence and quantities of\nrepresentative cariogenic and periodontal pathogens in the oral cavities of 12-month-old infants and compare the\noccurrence of these microbes between a cohort of pre-term infants with very low birthweights and a control cohort\ncomprising full-term infants.\nMethods: The research cohort was composed of 69 one-year-old infants, of whom 24 were born prematurely with very\nlow birthweights and 45 of whom were carried to full term. Information regarding the infants� gestational age, mode of\ndelivery, general health status, birthweight and antibiotic use were obtained from hospital records and through oral\ninterviews. At 12 months of age, both groups of infants were examined, and unstimulated saliva samples from the\ndorsum of the tongue and dental plaque samples were collected. The microorganisms (Streptococcus mutans,\nLactobacillus spp., Actinomyces spp., Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella\nforsythia, Treponema denticola, Peptostreptococcus micros, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum) were\nidentified and their quantities were evaluated using a PCR-based method. The chi-squared and Fisher�s factorial\ntests were used for the statistical evaluations.\nResults: The infants had a high prevalence of cariogenic microbes and of Fusosbacterium nucleatum and\nAggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. Cariogenic microbes were detected in 91.7% of the very low birthweight\ninfants and in all full-term infants. Periodontal pathogens were present in 83% of the pre-term infants and in 96%\nof the full-term infants. A significant difference was found between the cohorts in terms of the presence of S.\nmutans. Most of the very low birthweight infants had negative values of this microbe, while the full-term infants\nhad positive values.\nConclusions: This study confirms the early transmission of representative cariogenic and periodontal pathogens\nto the oral cavity of one-year-old infants and a higher prevalence of S. mutans in full-term infants than in\npremature infants....
Background: Traumatic dental injury (TDI) is an important public dental health problem among schoolchildren. The\naim of the study was to investigate the relationship between TDIs, obesity, and other possible associated factors like\ngender, overjet, lip coverage, parents� education level and family income among 12-year old Jordanian schoolchildren.\nMethods: A cross-sectional population-based study examined a total of 1015 schoolchildren attending 34\nschools randomly selected from urban and rural areas of Amman-the capital city of Jordan. The epidemiological\nclassification adopted by WHO and modified by Andreasen et al. was used to classify TDIs. Obesity was defined\naccording to the international cut-off points of body mass index for boys and girls between 2 and 20 years old.\nResults: The prevalence of TDIs was 16.3%. Enamel fracture was the most common type of TDIs (65%). Neither\nparents� education level nor family income had a significant effect on TDI occurrence (P > 0.05). Results of\nmultiple logistic regression showed that TDIs were significantly more prevalent among males (OR = 1.42, CI;\n1.01-2.01, P < 0.05), and children with inadequate lip coverage (OR = 1.95, CI; 1.35-2.81, P < 0.05). The relationship\nbetween TDIs and obesity was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).\nConclusions: Being a male with inadequate lip coverage was associated with higher probability of having a\nTDI. Obesity had no significant effect on the occurrence of TDIs....
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