OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of dental caries in the primary dentition of kindergarten school children of Udaipur city Rajasthan in a cross sectional study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study population comprised of around 355 children aged 3-6 years old randomly selected from 10 kindergarten schools in Udaipur city from all preselected five zones. Dental caries was recorded using the decayed, missing, filled teeth [dmf-t] index and the decayed, missing, filled surfaces [dmf-s] index according to WHO 1997 standards. RESULTS: Seventy-nine point one five percent are caries free individuals while 20.85% are individuals having caries. The mean dt scores for the age group six is found to be highest with 0.45 (0.86) and least for the age group of four with 0.28 (0.74). Sixty-five point six three percent of the subjects brushed their teeth by themselves while 34.37% do it with the help of their mothers. CONCLUSION: Dental caries prevalence and severity is low among the students.

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Photographs offer an opportunity to remotely examine teeth for developmental defects of enamel. However, the flash on the camera can cause burn-out which obscures the surface. Therefore, multiple views may be necessary to overcome this problem. In this study we examined the validity and reliability of diagnosis of enamel defects made from photographs. A series of five intra-oral photographs (central, right lateral, left lateral, superior and inferior views) at 1:1 magnification were taken for 125 Chinese children aged 12 to 13 years. The maxillary incisor teeth of these children were examined both clinically and photographically for enamel defects which, if present, were recorded using the modified FDI (DDE) Index. One hundred sets of slides were then randomly selected from the subjects and were viewed by six professional and two lay observers for enamel defects. The slide sets of five views and three views (central and two lateral views) were studied separately. The Kappa coefficients which were in the range of “substantial” to “total agreement” (κ = 0.73-1.00) at the tooth level for agreement between the clinical and the five-view photographic assessments on indicated that photographs were a reliable alternative to the clinical examination to detect the presence of enamel defects. No apparent significant differences were noted between the assessments of the two slide sets. These findings suggest that a series of three slides is adequate to study enamel defects for the four maxillary incisors.

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Periodontitis is considered to be a multifactorial and lifestyle-related dental disease. In Down syndrome, the onset of periodontitis starts from an early age, and appears to be a proper phenomenon of this syndrome. One possibility is that this phenomenon relates to the immune system of individuals with Down syndrome, yet little is known about the etiology, particularly the genetic factors. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is an important host factor of the innate immune system and may play a role in the defense against invading microorganisms in periodontitis. Here, we investigate the distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MBL gene at codons 52, 54, and 57 in both subjects with or without Down syndrome, with or without periodontitis. The subjects of this study from a Japanese population were: group (i) 10 individuals without Down syndrome without periodontitis; group (ii) 18 individuals without Down syndrome with periodontitis; group (iii) 12 individuals with Down syndrome without periodontitis; and group (iv) 20 individuals with Down syndrome with periodontitis. We carried out polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using DNA from lingual mucosal cells of subjects, and determined the genotypes of all subjects. We found no different distributions of SNPs in the MBL gene at codons 52, 54, and 57 in subjects with or without Down syndrome, with or without periodontitis. These findings suggest that frequent abnormalities of the immune system in Down syndrome are dependent on the genetic background of the individual.

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AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of congenitally missing permanent teeth in Japanese children residing in south-west area of Kanto district in recent years. METHODS: Panoramic radiographs taken for dental treatment between 1990 and 2007 were used to evaluate the congenitally missing permanent teeth excluding the third molar. The participants of this study consisted of 2,125 children aged between 7 and 20 years. RESULTS: The congenitally missing teeth were observed in 251 participants (11.8%). The majority of the participants (114) presented with only one tooth missing, and there was a general tendency that the number of participants gradually decreased as the number of missing teeth increased. A total of 539 teeth were congenitally missing, and mandibular second premolar was the most frequently missing tooth (153 teeth), followed by mandibular lateral incisor (86 teeth), maxillary second premolar (71 teeth), maxillary lateral incisor (61 teeth). Only one missing tooth (114 participants) was found most frequently in mandibular lateral incisor (30 participants), followed by mandibular second premolar (28 participants). There was a tendency that congenitally missing teeth occurred symmetrically; especially most of the participants who had two missing teeth (80 in 88 participants) were symmetrically missing. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of congenitally missing permanent teeth in this study was 11.8% and it was comparable to those reported in previous studies of Japanese population evaluated using panoramic radiographs.

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The objective of this study is to clarify the changes in the internal structure of the surrounding area in deciduous canine and in relation to the development of successive permanent teeth. We observed the mandibles of the dry skulls of Indian children, using Micro-CT, and measured height of the compact bone at the mandibular base. When the first molars reached the occlusal line in addition to the deciduous dentition stage, the superoinferior position of canine bony crypt located lower than that of other permanent teeth. After this eruption stage, the bony crypts of canine showed inferior growth, resulting in compact substance’s resorption of the mandibular base. When the central and lateral incisors reached the occlusal line, resorption of compact substance was advanced, but adjunction was observed after deciduous canine shed. Trabecular bone appeared for some directions in the region of sponge bone. The height of compact bone at the mandibular base was measured to elucidate the changes of the compact substance inside of the mandibular base with advancement of the dental eruption stage. The result of measurements quantitatively showed that the bone resorption advanced to the state of central and lateral incisors reached the occlusal line and adjunction occurred after deciduous canine shed.

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The aim of this study was to assess the orthodontic treatment need and prevalence of malocclusion in 11-15-years-old Egyptian schoolchildren using the Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). A further aim was to compare the results with those from other populations matched for gender and age. The study followed the World Health Organization recommendations for oral health surveys. The sample comprised 1,464 schoolchildren (720 males and 744 females) who had not undergone orthodontic treatment, divided into two groups: 719 from 11-<13-years-old and 745 from 13-15-years-old, out of a representative sample of the school population of Mansoura Community. The IOTN results were analyzed with regard to gender using the Chi-square test. Orthodontic treatment need, using the DHC, was found in 21.5 per cent of the 11-<13-years-old and in 18.1 per cent of the 13-15-years-old; and with the AC, in 5.1 and 3.7 per cent, respectively. Considering the total sample, 19.8 and 4.4 per cent of the schoolchildren had a definite treatment need according to IOTN DHC and IOTN AC respectively. No gender dependent differences were found. It can be concluded that Egyptian orthodontic treatment need is similar to that reported in most recent studies; with approximately one in five to six children with an orthodontic treatment need.

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Psychological palmar sweating is a phenomenon that occurs with emotional changes such as anxiety, fear, and anger. To identify the psychological anxiety and stress experienced by children visiting a dental office, we measured the amount of psychological palmar sweating using a sudorometer and obtained the following results.
1. Amount of sweating in dental office
The amount of sweating was largest in both boys and girls when they were guided to the dental chair, followed by the period during tooth brushing and turbine sound. The least sweating occurred while they were in the waiting room. In boys, significant differences in sweating were seen between the times spent in the waiting room and when guided to the chair, and between the times when they were guided to the chair and taught tooth brushing. In girls, significant differences were seen between the times spent in the waiting room and when guided to the chair, between the times when guided to the chair and taught tooth brushing, and between being guided to the chair and turbine sound.
2. Amount of sweating by gender
In the dental office, the amount of sweating was larger in girls than in boys during all times: while in the waiting room, when guided to the chair, during tooth brushing and turbine sound. However, no significant differences were seen between boys and girls.
The method presented in our study maybe very useful to quantitatively understand the psychological state of children in dental offices who may be unable to express their own feelings well.

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Dental caries in early childhood is a significant public health problem, among which nursing caries is known to be caused by inappropriate nursing habits. The aim of the present study was to investigate lifestyle factors related to nursing caries. We examined 2,506 Japanese children aged 18 months, as a part of public health examinations conducted by the Municipal Public Health Center in 2008. Questionnaires were also administered to their guardians, which focused on nutritional and dental health conditions. Statistical analyses were then performed to determine significant nutritional and dental health factors associated with nursing caries. There were 117 children (4.7% of total) identified with dental caries, of whom 18 (0.7% of total cohort, 15.3% of children with dental caries) were designated as the nursing caries group. Statistical analyses revealed that breastfeeding was the most important factor as compared to children without nursing caries (P = 0.0002; odds ratio, 6.373). Our results showed that inappropriate breastfeeding is one of the most important factors related to both onset and exacerbation of nursing caries, and conclude that parents should be informed of appropriate breastfeeding practices by dentists for their prevention.

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Developments in molecular biological techniques enables rapid and easy identification of periodontopathic bacterial species in clinical specimens. However, there are few reports regarding their application for community dentistry. The aim of this study was to show successful application of a molecular biological technique for evaluation of changes in periodontal bacterial species in children at daycare centers. We studied 187 children who received oral examinations in 2009 and 186 who received examinations in 2010, among whom 102 were examined in both years. Clinical parameters regarding periodontal conditions were evaluated and the distribution of 10 periodontopathic species in dental plaque specimens were determined by polymerase chain reaction. Periodontal pocket depth values in the 2010 group were significantly smaller than those in 2009. When the subjects were divided into those with (positive group) and without (negative group) Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, or Campylobacter rectus in 2009, the positive group had significantly smaller periodontal pocket values than the negative group. In addition, the rate of subjects with P.gingivalis, T.denticola, T.forsythia, or C.rectus in the positive group in 2010 was significantly reduced. Our findings demonstrate that molecular biological methods provide more information as compared to a standard clinical examination when evaluating changes of periodontal conditions in the field of community dentistry.

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Dentinogenesis imperfecta type II (DI-II) is an inherited mesodermal condition affecting the primary and permanent dentition. There is often cracking and loss of enamel and the subsequent rapid attrition of exposed dentin. This report presents a 14-year-old boy with DI-II, specifically with an unusual case of cracked bilateral maxillary and mandibular first molars. Fractures involved enamel, dentin, and cementum.

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Adenomatoid odontogenic tumour (AOT) is a rare benign odontogenic tumour characterized by a progressively slow growing pattern and symptomless behavior. The differential diagnosis between AOT and other odontogenic tumours, such as ameloblastoma, should be well conducted in order to avoid extensive ablative surgery. This report presents an unusual case of an 11-year-old male patient who referred to the oral surgeon due to a significant painless gingival swelling in the anterior mandible. A panoramic X-ray revealed a round radiolucid image of an intraosseous lesion with well defined boards and related to the left lateral incisor and left canine. The Computerized Tomography was performed and the sagittal sections revealed a tooth image in contact with the inferior board of the tumour. Additionally, the coronal sections showed the presence of a tooth inside the lesion. Several calcifying nodules could be distinguished within the cystic area. The clinical diagnostic hypothesis was of calcifying epithelium odontogenic tumour but the histological sections were consistent with AOT. The tumour was enucleated under local anesthesia. After one year follow-up there were no signs of reoccurrence. With respect to the distinguishing tumour enlargement and localization in the lower jaw, the reported case is an uncommon example of AOT.

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We present a case of mesiodens identified in a 1-year 9-month-old boy. The patient visited our clinic after receiving a traumatic injury, which caused intrusion of the maxillary right and left primary central incisors. A periapical radiograph revealed no root fractures, though a mesiodens was incidentally found. The intruded teeth naturally moved into their original positions and periodical examinations were scheduled. At 4Y2M, uncommon mesial inclination of the maxillary right primary central incisor was noted. A radiographic examination showed the enlarged dental follicle of the mesiodens, which appeared to cause the inclination, and we planned fenestration when enlargement of the lesion was identified. At 5Y1M, he received another traumatic injury and the maxillary right primary central incisor was exfoliated. At 5Y5M, the mesiodens spontaneously emerged into the oral cavity and a radiographic examination showed prominent rotation of the maxillary right central incisor. Two-thirds of the crown of the mesiodens could be seen at 6Y4M. At 6Y11M, the patient again received a traumatic injury, and intrusion of the maxillary left primary central incisor was observed. At 7Y0M, the mesiodens and maxillary left primary central incisor were extracted under infiltration anesthesia, after which inclination of the axis of the adjacent maxillary right central incisor gradually improved.

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Radicular cysts in the primary dentition are rare, with such cysts most commonly occurring in the permanent dentition. Pulpal treatment for teeth affected by dental caries has been suggested as a causative factor of radicular cysts. We report two cases of radicular cysts occurring in the primary dentition after pulpectomy. Marsupialization of the cystic lesion was performed in both cases, resulting in uneventful eruption of the successive permanent tooth. A resin appliance in one case and antibiotic ointment-impregnated gauze only in the other were used to fill and promote healing of the cystic cavity. The results suggest that this approach is effective in inducing complete healing of radicular cysts in the primary dentition and avoiding the formation of residual cysts. Furthermore, use of antibiotic-impregnated gauze appears to offer an easier option than other reported methods in the management of radicular cysts.

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Fused teeth present a high predisposition to caries, which occurs due to the possibility of bacterial plaque accumulation in the fissures or grooves in the union between the teeth involved. This paper reports the case of a 2-year-old boy presented with a fused left maxillary central and lateral incisors which crown was destroyed by caries, and the endodontic and composite resin based restorative treatment performed, that restored aesthetics, function and preserved the primary teeth in the dental arch until their natural exfoliation.

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