Aim: Children under 5 years of age generally spend most of their time with parents or guardians, especially mothers. Parents play a central role in giving children the information and encouragement needed for healthy lives. Parental oral health knowledge, belief and attitudes influence the oral health maintenance, dietary habits and healthy behavior of their children. The aim of this study was to assess the mothers oral health care knowledge and to assess the oral health status of their child. Materials and Methods: A total of 386 mothers along with their child of 1-6 years were randomly selected for the study. A 22-point questionnaire including parent's literacy levels, socioeconomic status, dietary practices and oral hygiene practices, was designed to assess the knowledge of the mothers regarding oral health of their child. Oral examination of the children was done by World Health Organization criteria for recording children's oral health status. Results: About 87% of the mothers agreed that intake of food with excessive sugars can cause cavities, and 95.8% admitted that chocolates cause the most decay. 80.5% agreed to the fact that leaving a milk bottle all night increases the risk for tooth decay, however, 59.3% mothers were of the opinion that dental visit is must only in the presence of decay. 59.3% mothers were unaware about the optimal fluoride content. 71.7% mothers agreed that caries in deciduous teeth are a matter of concern. The average decayed score of the children was 2.9 and 77.9% of the children had a fair to good oral hygiene status. Conclusion: Instead of the fact that most of the health care knowledge that the mothers had was primarily from the family elders, they were aware of caries risk factors, tooth brushes and amount of toothpaste and bacteria from mother's cavities can infect child. This could be observed by less number of decayed teeth and good oral hygiene status of the children. However, parents knowledge, attitudes and few beliefs regarding dental care need to be improved.

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The principal malignancy of peripheral nerves is malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), which is common in soft tissue of the lower extremities. Its occurrence in the head and neck region is about 10-20%, which makes it a rare entity. Intraosseous MPNST is rare in the literature. Here, we discuss the case report of de novo occurrence of MPNST in the mandible of a 25-year-old female patient.

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Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) is a rare congenital developmental disorder characterized by unilateral cutaneous vascular malformation (nevus flammeus or port-wine stains) in association with ipsilateral leptomeningeal angiomatosis and glaucoma. This article presents a case of SWS associated with gingival hyperplasia and pyogenic granuloma.

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Introduction: Nutrition has always been recognized as an integral part of oral health. However, most dentists do not incorporate diet counseling in routine dental practice. The current study was set to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) on diet counseling among dental house surgeons. Materials and Methods: Interns from four different colleges (under different universities) spread across the four states of South India were selected. Of them, 220 interns who completed the questionnaires were chosen for final analysis. Results: Of the subjects, 75% agreed that nutrition was a vital component of total health care. However, only 42% of the subjects reported that they had received adequate training in diet counseling. Most of the subjects agreed that diet counseling needed to be emphasized in dental education and only 37% of the subjects expressed their confidence in rendering diet counseling to their patients. Conclusions: Students possessed not only good knowledge but also a positive attitude toward diet counseling. Lack of confidence and apprehension about financial reimbursement were two main reasons cited as obstacles for the incorporation of diet counseling in routine clinical practice.

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Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the color stability of nano-hybrid, micro-hybrid, and silorane-based composite resin restorative materials upon exposure to staining agents. Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty composites samples were prepared, 40 from each composite material (Filtek ^® Z350, Filtek ^® P90, and Filtek ^® Z250). The specimens were randomly divided into four groups (10 of each sample). The specimens were incubated for 24 h in distilled water and then for 72 h in corresponding mediums (distilled water, red grape juice, green tea, coffee). The color of all the specimens was assessed before and after exposure with a spectrophotometer and total color change (ΔE) was calculated using ΔE* = [(ΔL*)2 + (Δa*)2 + (Δb*)2]1/2. The data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kolmogorov-Smirnov and the means of the solutions were compared by Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) (P < 0.05). Result: The lowest dicoloration was observed in Filtek ^® LS P90 but it was not significant while the most discoloration was observed in Filtek ^® Z350 and Filtek ^® Z250. Also, coffee showed a highly significant (P > 0.05) discoloration compared with other media. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, it may be concluded that silorane-based composites are more resistant to discoloration than bis-GMA-based composites and coffee had the highest effect on composite discoloration compared to other media.

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Background: The emergency department of any given tertiary hospital setting provides an opportunity to deal with the outcomes of violence. The head and neck region is the most affected, especially in assault cases. Materials and Methods: A retrospective medical forensic auditing of a non-confidential cumulative record of assault cases from December 1, 2001 to December 1 ^st 2002 was carried out at the Nigerian Police Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Result: There was a total of 1051 victims of which females were 52% and males 48% respectively. Almost 90% of the victims were of low socio-economic background. The most affected age-range was 21-30 years and the most commonly used assault weapon was a blunt object 23.5% head and neck region was affected 56.9% of the time. Conclusion: We concluded that this study might sensitize the general practitioners, the oral surgeons, and the maxillofacial surgeons in collaborative management and research on head and neck assault.

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Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of overdenture over vital and nonvital abutment teeth on teeth stability (teeth mobility and attachment loss). Materials and Methods: An experimental, parallel design was used and the study was conducted over a 12-month period (December 2013 to November 2014). Thirty patients who voluntarily opted to participate in this study were recruited; the first group received overdenture over vital abutment teeth while the second group received overdenture over nonvital abutment teeth. Attachment loss and teeth mobility were periodically evaluated after 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The data were then analyzed by a computerized method [Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20]. Results: Overdenture over vital abutment teeth showed lower attachment loss and teeth mobility, compared to the overdenture over nonvital abutment teeth. These differences were statistically significant. Conclusion: It was concluded that the overdenture over vital abutment teeth was more stable, with a lower incidence of tooth mobility and less attachment loss than overdentures placed on nonvital teeth.

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Background: Estimation of biomarkers in saliva could offer an attractive opportunity for the diagnosis of periodontal diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in the saliva of patients with periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients were assigned to each of the three groups - C0, C3, and C4 based on their largest Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) code, totaling 60 participants. Immediately after a single mouth rinse with 15 mL of water to wash out exfoliated cells, about 1 mL of unstimulated saliva was collected in sterile plastic containers and transported to the biochemical laboratory for spectrophotometric analysis. Results: There were significant differences between levels of AST from the groups C0, C3, and C4. There was a significant positive correlation between clinical parameters and AST concentration in the saliva of each group. There was no statistical significance between males and females in all three groups. Conclusion: AST levels in the saliva increased with increase in the CPITN score. Group C0 had the least while group C4 had the highest AST level. High levels of AST are characteristic features of periodontitis affected subjects. Hence, monitoring the levels of AST in the saliva could be utilized as periodontal disease markers.

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Background and Aim: Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are clinical issues involving the masticatory muscles and the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) and associated structures, or both. The role of denture status in TMD is disputed. The aim of this study was to examine the remodeling of occlusion and TMJ paths with a resulting reduction in pain. Materials and Methods: The study group consisted of 115 patients with TMJ pain. A gradual analysis of TMJ was carried out. Twenty four different measurements were used as determinates of the skeletal sagittal jaw relationship. Based on the computer data analysis the prosthetic reconstruction was prepared. Results: Anatomical landmarks have a direct influence on function changes in TMJ areas. Significant differences were observed in posterior face height (PFH) and anterior face height (AFH). Changes in joint path angle/horizontal condylar inclination increased. The unpleasant feeling was reduced following treatment. Conclusions: Loss of occlusal stability may result in the repeated fracture of restorations and teeth and increased mobility and drifting.

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Dentists are prone to face unpredictable medical emergency crises in their patients during dental practice. These seldom but usually occurring events require diagnosis for safe and effective management. Therefore, dental care professionals are required to be equipped with information and training on how to manage medical emergencies (MEs) including drug administration. An outline of what essential basic life support equipment and medications require in dental clinics to manage MEs are provided with recommendation for training to handle those medical events. Effective and safe dental practice require to providing graduate and undergraduate dentistry students with updated information and training on medical emergencies and how to handle different equipment and drugs associated with such events.

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