Dental caries levels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been a cause of concern to public health planners for sometime. The dental caries symposium of the 14^th Makkah Dental Conference brought together leaders from the different academic and clinical stakeholders in the provision of dental health care in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The aim of the symposium was to establish consensus on the role of different public health measures to be implemented in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that could help reduce the overall dental caries rate. This consensus statement summarizes the key findings of the panel and presents a consensus statement on six major topics: (1) water fluoridation, (2) dental health care provision by the Ministry of Health, (3) cost-effectiveness of preventive dental care, (4) caries risk assessment, (5) evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of dental caries, and (6) the role of the dental academic sector in the prevention of dental caries. These six factors were discussed in the background of international best practices in caries prevention and how these practices could be adopted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Denture stomatitis presents with inflammation of the oral mucosa beneath the denture. 90% of the cases identified Candida as a causative organism, and antifungal therapy is being commonly advocated. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to identify disinfection of dentures as a mode of prevention of denture stomatitis to avoid the adverse effects of antifungal therapy. Literature search was performed on electronic databases. Cochrane's tool was used for assessing the risk of bias. Forest plot was generated for heterogeneity with I² statistics and Chi-square test for the following outcome measures: Candida count, clinical improvement, recurrence of stomatitis, and adverse events. A total of five studies were found to be eligible, and the pooled estimate for Candida count was 0.39 (0.03, 0.75) was statistically significant favoring antifungal therapy. Forest plot of the relative risk of clinical cure was not significant between the groups with the pooled estimate of 1.38 (0.87, 2.18), and recurrence of stomatitis was 1.06 (0.79, 1.43). To conclude disinfectants, microwave and photodynamic therapy had similar effects on Candida in comparison to antifungal therapy. These techniques could be used as effective alternatives to antifungal therapy which aids in the prevention of adverse effects due to antifungal therapy.

Background: The effectiveness of school-based dental health programs has been vastly reported. The objective of the present study was to assess the oral health knowledge and attitudes of primary school teachers in Saudi Arabia and to identify any barriers in implementing school oral health programs. Methodology: A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the oral health knowledge and attitudes of primary school teachers including barriers in implementing school oral health programs. Results: A total of 61 primary schools were included in the present study with responses from 1186 teachers. The mean oral health knowledge score among primary school teacher of Abha-Khamis was found to be 16 ± 2.7. The overall attitude of primary school teachers regarding implementing school-based oral health program was found to be positive on Likert scale. The responses for barriers in implementing school oral health program were almost equally distributed: lack of material resources (21%), lack of professional training (25%), lack of availability of time (25%), lack of support from school administration (22%), and teacher's attitude was least perceived as a barriers (7%). Conclusions: The oral health knowledge among primary school teachers was found to be good with positive attitudes toward school-based oral health programs. The most significant barriers in implementing a school oral health program were administrative barriers. There is a need for concerned school authorities and health policy makers to address these barriers and to promote oral health in the community.

Introduction: Design of a standardized rubric for measuring student performance in presentations is a critical issue. Materials and Methods: Thirty male students (Group I) and thirty female students (Group II) participated in this study. Likert scale was used (excellent, good, average, and unsatisfactory). It was used against the itemized criteria (introduction, content, slide arrangement, written work, delivery and use of references). Results: high Cronbach's alpha reliability of the rubric was found in either Group I (0.945) or Group II (0.878) where it is slightly higher in the Group I at the 5% level. Corrected item-total correlation for delivery variable in Group I is very weak (0.222) while correlation for reference variable in Group II was averaged (0.525). Conclusion: Group II showed higher delivery performance than Group I as Group I had a lack of English language proficiency, while in Group II, they miss reference citation which can be corrected.

Introduction: This study evaluated the prevalence of developmental and eruption disturbances of teeth in both primary and mixed dentition of the patients along with the associations between the variables such as child's age, gender, jaw, and teeth. Materials and Methods: A total of 9235 children visiting the Outpatient Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Postgraduate Institute of Dental Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India, were examined during a period of 1 year from January 2014 to January 2015. Clinical examination was carried out to identify the presence of developmental and eruption disturbances. Data management and statistical analysis were carried out using software Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19. Results: A total of 223 (2.41%) patients were affected by the developmental dental and eruption disturbances. The prevalence of developmental dental anomalies was 1.62 and of eruption disturbances was 1.06. Enamel hypoplasia was the most prevalent anomaly (0.77) whereas the most prevalent eruption disturbance was ectopic eruption (0.80). Conclusion: The early detection and diagnosis of dental anomalies is important to prevent further disturbances and related complications.

Background: Bone remodeling is a biologic process involving an acute inflammatory response in periodontal tissues during orthodontic tooth movement. The early response of periodontal tissues to mechanical stress involves metabolic changes that allow tooth movement. Aim of the Study: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the changes in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) when forces are applied during initial alignment (Phase 1 [P1]) and retraction (Phase 2 [P2]). Settings and Design: The study was performed in a hospital-based population with an experimental design. Materials and Methods: A total of 17 patients (11–21 years) were included in the study, all requiring first premolar extractions undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. Maxillary canine and mandibular second molar were used as test tooth (TT) and control tooth (CT) in each patient, respectively. On the 14^th day after the start of each phase, 2 μL of GCF was collected from mesial side of both TT and CT for ALP and LDH activity determination using spectrophotometer. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS (version 13, SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA) package. The significance of differences in both phases at test or, at control site for LDH and ALP enzyme activity, was evaluated by performing Student's paired t-test. The significance of differences in between test and control sites in each phase separately was evaluated by performing Student's unpaired t-test. Results: There was a variation in enzyme activity during orthodontic tooth movement. At TT, there was statistically significant increase in ALP and LDH activity in P2 as compared to P1 with P = 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively. At CT, there was no statistically significant difference in ALP and LDH activity in P1 and P2 with P = 0.054 and P = 0.061, respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that ALP and LDH activity could be successfully estimated in the GCF, and ALP and LDH activity in GCF reflects the biologic activity in the periodontium during orthodontic tooth movements.

Background and Aim: The use of targeted advertising by internet providers has meant that unlike television, all viewers do not view the same advertising content. The aim of this study was to analyze three popular Arabic children's video channels on YouTube™ and analyze the advertisements associated with these channels. The study also aimed to evaluate if the advertisement content varied according to the type of user. Methodology: The three most popular Arabic children's channels on YouTube™ were accessed using two separate Google™ accounts; one which frequently accessed children's content and one that never did. The content of advertisements and the number and pattern of repetition of advertisements were tabulated. The food and beverage content and the sugar content were documented. These were compared between the two accounts using the Chi-square test. Results: Food and beverage advertising comprised almost half the total advertising with a significantly greater number of high sugar food and beverage content advertising on the account which frequently accessed children's content. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the content and penetration of advertisements on the internet vary too much to be meaningfully regulated. Dentists should be aware of the effect of these advertisements and counsel parents to the dangers of targeted advertising of high sugar products on the internet.

Background: Cancrum oris is a debilitating and rapidly progressive gangrenous disease. It is life-threatening and results in severe devastation. Tissue loss constitutes a formidable cause of morbidity in patients and also poses an enormous challenge to a reconstructive surgeon. This study aims to describe the pattern of tissue loss among patients with cancrum oris at our center. Methods: A review of the data of patients treated for cancrum oris at Noma Children Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, from December 1999 to 2011, was done. Data on the age, gender, and pattern of tissue loss were retrieved. The pattern of tissue loss was assessed anatomically and clinically. Analysis of data was done using SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 20 [Armonk, NY: IBM Corp]). Results: A total of 159 cases of cancrum oris were included in this study. The age range was 1–33 years with a mean (± standard deviation) of 3.5 (3.23) years. A male/female ratio of 1:1.2 was observed. A total of 425 sites were affected in 159 patients. In 109 (68.6%) patients, only soft tissue involvement was seen, while a combination of soft and hard tissue destructions was observed in 50 (31.4%) patients. The most frequently affected site was the cheek, 268 (63.1%), followed by the lips, 106 (66.7%). The nose was affected in 40 (25.2%) patients. Osseous involvement was observed in 50 (7.6%) patients. Conclusion: Cancrum oris, though considered to be a rare disease, continues to constitute a grievous cause of orofacial tissue loss and consequent morbidity in our environment.

Background: Treatment of primary maxillary incisors in early childhood caries is problematic because the teeth are small and a restoration should be retentive and esthetic. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the esthetics and durability of two types of preveneered stainless steel crowns by assessing their parental acceptance and clinical outcome over a period of 24 months. Materials and Methods: Forty maxillary primary incisors which had undergone pulpectomy procedure were randomly divided into two groups of twenty teeth each. A split-mouth design was followed wherein every child received at least one each of the two commercially available preveneered stainless steel crowns, namely, NuSmile crowns and Kinder Krowns. Patients were recalled after 6, 9, 12, and 24 months and the crowns were evaluated for clinical outcome and parental satisfaction. Data obtained were collected and subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-square/Fisher's exact test. Results: Overall clinical outcome did not show a significant difference between the two types of crowns. Parental satisfaction for NuSmile crowns and Kinder Krowns was similar. Conclusions: (1) NuSmile and Kinder Krowns performed well over a period of 24 months. (2) Parental satisfaction for both types of preveneered crowns was very high.

Long-standing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocations persist for more than a month are most challenging to treat. The management of such condition varies widely, from closed reduction to complicated surgical procedures. The choice of an appropriate methodology is questionable. At present, there are no standard rules or conventions for the ideal strategy in different circumstances. This paper attempts to present the experience of managing two cases of long-standing TMJ dislocations.

Primary amyloidosis is a group of monoclonal plasma cell disorders, characterized by extracellular deposition of immunoglobulin light chain fibrils in multiple organs leading to progressive multiorgan dysfunction. We report a 61-year-old female patient with an enlarged tongue, difficulty in speech, gradually changing quality of voice, and loss of weight. Diagnosis of amyloidosis and systemic nature confirmed by tongue biopsy and anterior abdominal fat biopsy using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining and Congo red staining. Urine examination positive for Bence–Jones proteins. Bone marrow aspiration cytology, bone marrow aspirate flow cytometry immunophenotyping, serum immunofixation electrophoresis, and urine immunoelectrophoresis revealed plasmacytosis, clonal plasma cell population, marked increased in lambda light chain in serum and urine, respectively. Based on these observations, a definitive diagnosis of primary systemic amyloidosis associated with plasma cell dyscrasia was made. He was treated with intravenous (IV) bortezomib and IV dexamethasone. A battery of tests is necessary to differentiate localized amyloidosis from its systemic forms for diagnosis, treatment and to assess treatment outcome.