Assessment of oral health literacy of principal caregivers and its association with dental caries in Mexican disabled pediatric patients

Open bite can be defined as an absence of occlusion, most frequently located in the anterior region of dental arches and its etiology is multifactorial. We present a clinical case of an 8 years and 10 months child presenting an anterior open bite (AOB) with transverse maxillary deficiency caused by tongue thrust during mixed dentition. The malocclusion was corrected by means of a McNamara expander with a palatal crib jointly with the association of speech therapy for tongue repositioning, and otolaryngology to treat adenoid hypertrophy due to its correlation with AOB. The multidisciplinary approach was effective in correcting the malocclusion with stable results after 2 years post-treatment.

Celebrating one year anniversary of Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry and introducing the new Congress

Hi Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am pleased to inform you some of good news regarding the development and process of the Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry (CPD). Since its establishment, CPD has received 80 submissions from all over world within sixteen months, and published 25 articles including review, original research and case reports. CPD has also moved to be indexed in reputed databases. Another achievement was establishment of 1st International Congress of Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry (ICCPD), organized by the CPD, which was taken place on 1- 3 November 2021 as a fully virtual meeting to celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of CPD. The ICCPD hosted 257 registered colleagues from 47 countries. The website of the ICCPD had been viewed more than 5000 visitors from 102 countries in only 2 months. As an exciting action, CPD is now getting ready to initiate the 2nd International Congress of Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry (www.iccpd.org). I feel confident that the ICCPD 2022 will serve as a place of learning where we can all share the latest knowledge and learn the contemporary view, approaches, techniques and treatment options from highly eminent clinicians and/or academicians from different countries. The theme of the ICCPD 2022 is “Contemporary Clinical Techniques in Pediatric Dentistry”. The 2nd ICCPD will also host oral and poster presentation. All abstracts will be published in the Supplementary Issue of Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry. It is my honor to invite all colleagues, who have sincere enthusiasm to help children to let them have better oral health, quality of life, smiling and development, to attend 2nd International Congress of Contemporary Pediatric Dentistry to be held on 2-4 September 2022 as a fully virtual meeting. Please follow website and social media accounts of CPD to get latest information regarding Congress and the Journal.

Does toxic stress impact paediatric dental procedures? An integrative review

Toxic stress is defined as strong, repetitive stress with prolonged activation, without the child having the support of an adult caregiver. It is plausible that invasive and complex paediatric interventions produce or contribute to the development of toxic stress. This article aims to evaluate, discuss and synthesize the association between toxic stress and paediatric dental clinical practice through an integrative review of studies published in several databases. The results of this study allow us to state that this subject is little explored in the dental literature and, therefore, that it is essential to encourage clinical studies and specific research. The expansion of these studies will provide health professionals with scientific evidence regarding the implementation of proper clinical practice, thus reducing or even eliminating the development of toxic stress.

Multidisciplinary approach in the anterior open bite using a McNamara expander with palatal crib during mixed dentition stage: A case report

Open bite can be defined as an absence of occlusion, most frequently located in the anterior region of dental arches and its etiology is multifactorial. We present a clinical case of an 8 years and 10 months child presenting an anterior open bite (AOB) with transverse maxillary deficiency caused by tongue thrust during mixed dentition. The malocclusion was corrected by means of a McNamara expander with a palatal crib jointly with the association of speech therapy for tongue repositioning, and otolaryngology to treat adenoid hypertrophy due to its correlation with AOB. The multidisciplinary approach was effective in correcting the malocclusion with stable results after 2 years post-treatment.

Surgical management of central giant cell granuloma of mandible and prosthetic rehabilitation in a nine year girl: A case report

Central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) is an uncommon, benign, idiopathic, osteolytic lesion of jaws, histologically characterized by multinucleated giant cells distributed in fibrovascular connective tissue stroma. Accurate diagnosis of the lesion is essential for the successful management and the prognosis of this locally destructive lesion. In this paper, a rare case of large destructive CGCG involving anterior region of mandible, causing expansion of labial cortical plate and mobility of teeth in a nine-year girl is presented. It was treated successfully by enucleation and curettage with satisfactory preservation of the continuity of mandible. Nine months post operatively, the child was rehabilitated with a temporary partial denture to improve esthetics, phonetics and function. One year clinical and radiographic follow up showed new bone formation and no evidence of recurrence.

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale (ACDAS)

Aim: This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale (ACDAS) as a tool used for the identification and treatment of anxious children. Methods: The study sample included 122 children aged ≥7 years, and the intervention consisted of implementation of the ACDAS and the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) by the lead researcher during the first dental visit for each child. ACDAS application was also repeated by another pediatric dentist in a smaller sub-sample of 20 children during the same visit. The lead researcher repeated the process, (i.e. application of ACDAS) in the whole study sample after two weeks. Results: The mean age of the participants was 9.84 ± 1.696 years (range: 7–12 years), and anxiety (ACDAS ≥ 26) was detected in 36.1% of the children. The Turkish version of the ACDAS exhibited high correlation with the CFSS-DS (r = 0.760; p < 0.001), and the Cronbach Alpha value (α = 0.934) showed good internal consistency. No statistically significant differences were observed in the dentist’s responses to questions in the Dental and Cognitive sections when comparing the first and second applications of the scale (p > 0.05), although significant differences were observed in the Child Evaluation section (p < 0.01). The Area Under the Curve (AUC), obtained by Receiver Operative Characteristic Curve (ROC) Analysis was 0.849 indicating good diagnostic performance. Conclusions: Based on these findings, the Turkish version of the ACDAS can be considered as a valid and reliable dental anxiety scale for the identification of children concerned about dental procedures.

The effectiveness of early intervention on malocclusion and its impact on craniofacial growth: A systematic review

This review aims to assess the available evidence related to the effectiveness of early interventions on malocclusion and its impact on the craniofacial structure among children under six years of age. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between nutritive sucking behavior mechanisms on the oral facial components. We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and the LILACS from inception to December 10, 2020, to identify published randomized and non-randomized controlled trials that investigated the broad spectrum of early interventions for the treatment of malocclusions among pediatric patients under six years old. We have also included studies that evaluated the impact or the relationship between feeding alternatives, malocclusion, and craniofacial growth. Reviewers working in pairs investigators independently performed title and abstract screening, full-text screening, data extraction, risk of bias assessment using ROBINS-I tool, and rated the certainty of evidence using GRADE. Seven studies were included (783 patients), with an overall risk of bias classified as critical. Early treatment was shown to improve facial asymmetry, particularly in the lower part of the face, along with an increase of palatal volume and palatal surface. Early treatment showed important reduction of mandibular protrusion and length, leading to favorable sagittal growth of the maxilla. Furthermore, the early intervention significantly enhanced the average bite force magnitude (from 318.20 N to 382.79 N) and increased the general thickness of facial muscles. Our findings suggest that the benefits generated by early orthodontic interventions are related to the improvement of craniofacial symmetry/bone structure, and refinement of masticatory ability and performance. Notwithstanding, there is still a need for further studies appraising patient-important outcomes, such as quality of life and nutritional features.

Dental considerations and management in Noonan Syndrome: A case report with review of literature

Noonan syndrome is a genetic disorder of autosomal dominance with an estimated prevalence of 1:1000 – 1:2500 live birth. The typical features include short stature, cardiovascular abnormalities and characteristics facial deformity. Dental features reported so far include malocclusion, dental caries, giant cell and cystic lesion. Multidisciplinary treatment plays a key role in the overall quality of life of the patient. This case report describes a 6-year-old boy with Noonan syndrome.

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of chitosan and formocresol as medicaments for pulpotomy in primary molars: A clinical pilot study

Aim: To compare the clinical and radiographic effectiveness of chitosan and formocresol as pulpotomy medicaments in primary molars. Methods: Children of age 4-8 years old, who were physically and mentally healthy without any known medical history of systemic conditions contraindicating pulp therapy with at least one deep carious primary molars indicated for pulpotomy, were recruited. Pulpotomies were performed on 64 teeth divided into 2 groups, Group A (chitosan) and Group B (formocresol), followed by stainless steel crowns. Evaluation of clinical and radiological success was done at 1, 3 and 6 months follow up. Chi Square Test was used to compare the clinical and radiological parameters between study groups at different time intervals (p < 0.05) Results: Clinical success rate in both groups was 96.6% and radiographic success rate in chitosan was 96.6%, but formocresol was 89.6%. Conclusions: Chitosan was found to be an effective medicament for pulpotomy in primary molars. While chitosan also showed improved success rate compared to formocresol, it was not statistically significant.

Silver diamine fluoride as a minimally invasive and aerosol free approach in pediatric dentistry: An extensive case series

The current pandemic of COVID-19 warrants a repeal from conventional dentistry to an aerosol free, minimally invasive yet maximally effective clinical approach. Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is an established modality for caries arrest in children fulfilling all the above. This extensive 25 case series highlights various clinical situations in which SDF was successfully used in children between 1-12 years of age with asymptomatic carious lesions of ICDAS score 2 or more in primary and permanent teeth. Primary outcome measure was caries arrest in the form of the hard and shiny lesion with no/minimal sensitivity. The secondary outcome measure was the zombie effect which was the residual staining on other tooth surfaces and indications of substantivity. SDF can be effectively and efficaciously used across different behaviour patterns and age groups of children in a various clinical scenario for both primary and permanent teeth routinely experienced in a paediatric dental office especially during these pandemic times with minimal aerosol generation.