Denture characteristics, oral hygiene practice and periodontal changes of partial denture wearers and non-denture wearers in a Teaching Hospital- A comparative study

Background: There can be localized periodontal inflammation around abutment teeth of dentures as a result of plaque accumulation. This study assessed the periodontal changes of removable partial denture wearers compared to that of non-denture wearers. Methodology: Participants were recruited from the prosthodontic and restorative outpatient clinics of Lagos University Teaching Hospital. The self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographics, denture characteristics, periodontal changes and oral hygiene practice of participants. Periodontal status assessed included gingival inflammation, plaque accumulation and tooth mobility. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 (IBM SPSS Armonk, New York) and presented as frequencies and percentages. Test for significance was done using Chi-square statistics, and the level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: A total of 96 participants between age 16 and 74years were recruited with mean age of 40±14.5years. There were 56 females and 40 males (F:M; 1.4:1). Fifty-four denture wearers and forty-two non-denture wearers were recruited into the study. Among participants wearing partial denture, 49(90.7%) had gingival inflammation; 45(91.8%) had mild inflammation compared to 4.8% participants who are non-denture wearers. 29(53.7%) denture wearers had fair oral hygiene while most 31(73.8%) non-denture wearers had excellent oral hygiene. Abutment teeth in denture wearers had tooth recession; mostly on the upper arch and also posteriorly. Conclusion: The periodontal inflammation, tooth recession and mobility in denture wearers were worse compared to non-denture wearers. Thus, they need to be motivated for more adequate oral hygiene practices and have regular recall system to monitor their periodontal health.

Oral Hygiene Practice among 18-year-old Norwegian Adolescents Using Health Belief Model: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives The aim was to compare oral hygiene practice (brushing/flossing) among 18 years old from two regions, Hordaland County, Norway, and possible perceptional correlates using the Health Belief Model. Materials and Methods The participants from six municipalities from the south district with high prevalence of dental caries to six municipalities from the rest of Hordaland county, with low prevalence of dental caries (control), using a web-based questionnaire. Statistical analyses: the Mann–Whitney U test was used and the t-test for independent samples. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses to examine associations. Results A total of 416 people participated. The south district’s participants had lesser percentage brushing twice a day and flossing at least once a day, they significantly visited lesser the dental service, perceived more susceptibility to dental caries, and lower benefits of brushing/flossing compared with the controls. Girls (odds ratio [OR]: 0.34) who perceived higher severity of dental caries (OR: 1.86), higher self-identity (OR: 2.14), and lesser barriers to brushing (OR: 0.14) had higher odds to brushing twice a day compared with their counterparts. Girls (OR: 0.34) who perceived higher severity of dental caries (OR: 2.34), higher benefits (OR = 2.8), and lesser barriers to flossing (OR = 0.23) had higher odds to flossing at least once a day compared with their counterparts. Conclusion South district’s participants significantly had some of risk factors to the recommended brushing/flossing practice compared with the control and these might help in explaining the difference in oral hygiene practice.

Prevalence of JP2 and Non-JP2 Genotypes of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Oral Hygiene Practice of Kenyan Adolescents in Maasai Mara

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is implicated in the etiology of periodontitis that affects adolescents. The monitoring and mapping of the geographic dissemination pattern of JP2 and non-JP2 genotypes of A. actinomycetemcomitans are of interest. In Africa, the highly leukotoxic JP2 genotype is known to be prevalent, particularly in north-west Africa. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of JP2 and non-JP2 genotypes and investigate the oral hygiene practices among adolescents living in Maasai Mara, Kenya. A total of 284 adolescents (mean age: 15.0 yrs; SD 1.1) were interviewed regarding their age, gender, medical history, and oral hygiene practice, and the number of teeth present was recorded. One subgingival pooled plaque sample from all the first molars of each participant was analyzed by conventional PCR. The mean number of permanent teeth present was 27.9 (SD: 2.0; range: 22–32; 95% CI: 27.7–28.1). Sixteen (5.6%) and two (0.7%) adolescents were positive for non-JP2 and JP2 genotypes, respectively. For the vast majority of the adolescents, the use of a toothbrush (99.3%) and toothpaste (80.1%), as well as some kind of toothpick (>60.2%), were part of their oral hygiene practice, with dental floss (0.4%) and/or mouth rinses (0.4%) rarely being used. We have, for the first time, identified Kenyan adolescents colonized with the JP2 genotype. The prevalence of the JP2 genotype of A. actinomycetemcomitans is low, a possible indicator that it spreading through human migration from North and West Africa to East Africa is a rare occasion.

Oral hygiene practices, its associated factors and evaluation of oral health education package among 6-8 grade students of bajrabarahi municipality, Lalitpur

Oral health is recognized as equally important in relation to general health. Proper oral hygiene is the fundamental basis of the common risk factor approach to prevent the oral diseases. Dental caries is the common oral pathology that remain widely prevalent among all populations throughout the lifespan. The school years cover a period that runs from childhood to adolescence. These are influential and receptive stages in people’s lives when lifelong sustainable oral health related behaviors, as well as beliefs and attitudes, are being developed. Children may also be equipped with personal skills that enable them to make healthy decisions. So school may be considered as an ideal setting for conducing successful health programs. This study provides important information to identify the oral hygiene practices and aims to implement the oral health education package among school students. The objective of the study is to identify the status of oral hygiene practices, its associated factors, and evaluate the effectiveness of oral health education package in improving the practices on oral hygiene among the students of 6-8 grade of Bajrabarahi Municipility of Lalitpur District. The school based action research was conducted among the students of grade 6-8 of Bajrabarahi Municipality. The study was completed in three phases. The phase I was Baseline study Phase, this phase was conducted to identify the status and gaps on oral hygiene practices. Phase II was the package development phase, from the findings of the baseline study the intervention package on oral hygiene was developed. Phase III was implementation phase, in this phase the implementation and evaluation of health education package on oral hygiene practices was done. Baseline study was conducted in total 5 secondary private school of Bajrabarahi Municipality which was selected randomly and all the students of class 6-8 were selected as a study population. Quantitative technique was used for the data collection the self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the information from the students. Cross sectional study design was applied for the baseline study. Data entry and analysis was done on SPSS 21 version Study reveals that 100% of the respondents brush their teeth daily. Only 37.6% of the student brush their teeth twice a day. Majority of the student use toothpaste and toothbrush to clean their teeth. 54% of the respondent change their toothbrush more than 6 month. Among the participants 23.9% followed the appropriate technique of brushing. 55% of the participant used to rinse their mouth after major meal and 45% rinse their mouth only after major meal. Only 20.2% of the participant used to visit dentist every 6 month. Regarding the status of oral hygiene practice more than fifty percent of the participant have below average practice on oral hygiene (55.8%). Regarding knowledge only 36.1% participants have knowledge on proper techniques of brushing. 85.2% have above or equal average knowledge on oral hygiene. The education level of the mother and perceived barrier was found significantly associated with oral hygiene practice. The second phase of the study was package development phase. In this phase package on oral hygiene was developed according to the information obtained from the baseline study. From the baseline findings the package was developed on proper technique of brushing. Package was developed by analyzing the methods media and content. The third phase of the study was to implement and evaluate of the oral health education package. Package was implemented in 2 school among those 5 school where the baseline was conducted and remain 3 school were considered as control school. From the analysis of comparison between intervention and control group the oral health education package was found to be effective in changing knowledge, belief and practice among the student in the intervention group.

Demographic details of oral hygiene practice and dental service utilization of Medical Doctors in Port Harcourt

Maintenance of good oral hygiene practice is the key to having a good oral health and invariably, an improved quality of life. Consecutive consenting medical practitioners attending the 2019 National Medical Association Annual General Meeting were recruited for this study. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics Armonk New York). One hundred and fifty-six participants were recruited. Ninety-four (60.3%) were male and 62(39.7%) females. Age ranged between 23 and 72 years with a mean age of 41.6±11.18 years. Almost all participants cleaned their teeth with toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste. More males, more consultants and more participants in the federal hospital brushed their teeth twice daily and used medium bristled toothbrushes. Equal number of males and females used dental floss and interdental brushes. More consultants than all other cadre of participants and more participants in the federal hospital used dental floss (p=0.02). More participants in the federal hospital visited the dentist in the past (p=0.05); however, more males and more consultants did not have time to visit. Twice the participants with six to ten years of practice compared to those with more than fifteen years of practice did not access dental service because they felt they had no dental problem (p=0.248). The longer the year of medical practice, the better the oral hygiene practice. One out of every 5 participants regularly visit the dentists; a consultant will likely visit more regularly than other designated participants.