Evaluation of temporomandibular disorder and oral parafunction prevalence in dental assistant students: A cross-sectional descriptive study

Objective: This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to determine the prevalence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and oral parafunctions in dental assistant students and examine the effects of sex and years of education. Materials and Methods: One-hundred five dental assistant students were included in the study. The Fonseca Anamnestic Index (FAI) was used to evaluate the presence of TMD in individuals, and the Oral Habit Checklist (OBC) was used to evaluate oral parafunctions. Results: Sixty-eight individuals (64.8%) had TMD at some level. It was determined that 46 of the females, who constituted the majority of the participants, had mild-TMD, which was significantly different from the males (p<0.001). According to the OBC results, oral parafunctions were associated with TMD, with low-moderate significant correlations (p <0.05). Conclusion: Early diagnosis of temporomandibular joint problems with various questionaries in the university, especially in the young population, is vital in terms of disease prognosis and will prevent future complications.

Infant oral health care: a review on parent’s role in infant oral health

The maintenance and prevention of oral health is one of major concern of parents. Dental caries is one of most common oral manifestation because of lack of knowledge and improper techniques. The first visit should be planned at early ages only so that proper guidance and knowledge should be imparted to the parent to prevent oral diseases. The first visit should include oral screening, oral habit monitoring, Brushing technique demonstration and fluoride application if needed. There should be more involvement to strengthen the role of pediatricians’ in children’s oral health requires an understanding of their current knowledge and practice. In this scoping review, we aimed to comprehensively map what is known about the knowledge and practice of parents regarding children’s oral health.

Prevalence of Gropers Appliance in Pediatric Dentistry

Space maintainers are used to minimise undesirable drifting of teeth in the dental arch. Using space maintenance after the loss of primary teeth restricts the creation of spaces. Space maintainers also prevent the development of malocclusion due to space. The primary teeth loss can lead to different dental malocclusions like midline shifts, space loss and also crowding of teeth. Gropers appliance is a space maintainer used for children who have lost their primary anterior due to accident or caries. Gropers appliance is a fixed partial denture used for aesthetic purposes. This is used to restore mastication and speech to prevent abnormal oral habit development and also for aesthetics. The aim of the study is to find the prevalence of Gropers appliance in Pediatric Dentistry. This was a retrospective study done under a University setting. All the patients' records were collected from June 2019 to March 2020 and were reviewed. The data included patients who required space maintainers. The data was tabulated and entered in excel and the data were analysed using SPSS package software. p<0.05 was considered to be the level of statistical significance in the study. The prevalence of Gropers appliance in Pediatric Dentistry was found to be 39.6%. There was a male prevalence of 55.6% in receiving a Gropers appliance. The common age who received it was 3 years old. Within the limitation of current study, the prevalence of Gropers appliance was 39. 6% with the common age of children being 3 yrs.

A standalone approach to utilize telomere length measurement as a surveillance tool in oral leukoplakia

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is often preceded by white patch, called oral leukoplakia (OL). Assessing relative telomere length (TL) in OL could be a predicting biomarker. Due to high variability and lack of universal reference, there has been a limited translational application of TL. Here, we describe an approach of evaluating TL using paired PBMC as internal reference and demonstrate its translational relevance. Oral brush biopsy and paired venous blood were collected from 50 male OL patients and 44 male healthy controls. Relative TL was measured by qPCR. TL of each OL sample was normalized to paired PBMC sample (TL ratio). Mean TL ratio in healthy controls with high risk oral habits was shorter than those who did not have these habits (1.093±0.411 and 1.253±0.296, respectively; p=0.071). In OL patients, the mean TL ratio was not only significantly shorter in the patch but also in distal normal oral tissue (0.971±0.317, p=0.0002 and 0.896±0.284, p=0.00001, respectively), relative to healthy control without high risk oral habit. Based on the TL ratio, we proposed a classification of OL into four subgroups. Dysplastic pathology was frequently associated with a subgroup having normal TL ratio at the patch while significantly shorter TL ratio at paired normal distal site. The approach of analyzing TL attrition of oral mucosa, eliminating requirement of external reference DNA, will enable the TL data universally comparable and provide a useful marker to define high risk OL group for follow-up program. Larger studies will further validate the approach and its broader application in other pre-malignant conditions.

Toothbrush deterioration and parents’ suggestions to improve the design of toothbrushes used by children with special care needs

Background Biting objects was a parafunctional oral habit among children with special care needs. Chewing or biting toothbrushes could expedite the process of toothbrush wear. However, few studies evaluated the deterioration levels of toothbrushes used by children with special needs. This study aimed to assess the deterioration level of toothbrushes used by children with special care needs, and collect parents’ feedbacks to improve the design of children’s toothbrushes. Methods The cross-sectional study recruited 277 children who had special care needs. Children’s toothbrushing behaviors, background information, and parents’ comments on toothbrushes were obtained. Toothbrush deterioration was assessed by bristle wear and bite mark scores. Higher scores indicated severe deterioration. Results Three hundred twenty-one toothbrushes were collected. Children who used 2 to 6 toothbrushes in a 3-month period showed higher toothbrush deterioration scores than children who used a single toothbrush. Over 40% children’s toothbrushes presented excessive wear. Excessive wear was associated with social skills and parents’ education background. Distinct bite marks tended to exist on toothbrushes which had been used by children who showed challenging behaviors during toothbrushing (OR = 1.96, 95%CI1.15–3.32, p < 0.05). Approximately 27% parents reported that children’s toothbrushes should be modified. Parents recommended that the size of toothbrush heads, the angle of handles, and the texture/length/distribution/diameter of bristles should be adjusted. Besides, ideal toothbrushes should be able to provide verbal or visual instructions to children, motivate children to brush teeth, simplify toothbrushing procedure, and protect children who had toothbrush-biting habits. Conclusions Excessive wear and distinct bite marks can be found on toothbrushes that had been used by children with special care needs. Toothbrush deterioration was associated with children’s social skills, toothbrushing behaviors, and parents’ educational attainment. The commercially available toothbrushes should be modified to meet the additional needs of young children.

Association between deleterious oral habits and its effect on dentition among 5-15 years children

Oral habits in children is considered to be one of the most common etiology for orthodontic malocclusion, the prolonged effect of these habits can result in alternation of orofacial structures. Habits are acquired by automatism, represented by an altered pattern of muscle contraction with complex characteristics. In very young children some habits are considered to be a normal process of development at least till 3yrs of age. Oral habits could be parafunctional or functional. It has been observed that there has been an ascending trend in the prevalence of oral habit in children. Thus the aim of this study is to determine the effects of oral habits on dentition. Completed case sheets were collected from a private dental college. Case sheets were taken from June 2019 to April 2020. Data was retrieved and evaluated by 2 reviewers. Once the data was collected, it was then tabulated based on the parameters which are habits, molar relation, malocclusion, age and gender. Correlations between the parameters are determined. The study showed that a total of 50 children ages from 5-15 years old had oral habits. Tongue thrusting was found to be the most common oral habit (44%) Class II Div I malocclusion was mostly seen in thumb sucking patients (31,6%). The 9 year old children were found to be the highest number of children with oral habits. In this study, we observed that children with habits may result in malocclusion if they persist with the habit.

A fixed intraoral nail biting habit-breaker appliance: A case report of a novel approach to curb onychophagia

Onchyophagia or nail biting is the performance of repetitive actions of biting one’s nails often to the level of mutilation of the nail beds. It is a compulsive act most often seen in adolescents but may continue into adulthood, leading to deleterious consequences. Often spurred by anxiety and stress, this oral habit is not so readily addressed by patients and in turn not very much treated by dentists or physicians. This case report describes successful treatment of an adolescent patient with a nail biting habit, with an innovative intraoral fixed habit-breaker appliance.

Bruxism Unconscious Oral Habit in Everyday Life

BACKGROUND: Bruxism is defined as an unconscious oral habit of rhythmical, unfunctional clenching, grinding and making chewy sounds with the teeth while making movements that are not part of the masticatory function and that lead to occlusal trauma. AIM: The purpose of this article is to show the habit bruxism, in everyday life, reviewing literature data. METHODS: Data was researched by using information on the internet on Researchgate, Pubmed, ScienceDirect, by analysing written articles and books and student books. From 200 articles that were analysed, 45 articles and two textbooks were involved in writing of this review article. RESULTS: Results derived from the analyzed literature, classify the main consequences of bruxism, from fatigue, pain, wasting of the incisal edges and occlusal surfaces of the teeth to loss of teeth, dental implants, headaches, periodontal lesions and TMD (dysfunctions of the masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joint (TMJ)) in severe cases. All these problems negatively affect the quality of everyday life of the patient. CONCLUSION: Bruxism as a parafunctional habit is present in everyday life needing a multidisciplinary approach for prevention of the teeth, bone and prosthetic restorations. The prevalence of bruxism is growing related to stress, drugs, changes in lifestyle, bad nutrition and sleep problems. The therapist should follow signs and symptoms to ensure the best treatment plan of the patient.