Faculty of Dentistry

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and patterns of tobacco use among health sciences undergraduate students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 students in four health sciences faculties at a private university in Kota Damansara, Selangor Malaysia. Data was collected through a self-administrated validated questionnaire, adopted and modified from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. The survey  was administered online  using a Google Form for the participants to fill. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics was used to express results in percentage. Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association of smoking status and demographic variables. p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results showed that more than 90% of the respondents were aware of the harmful effects of tobacco and effects of passive smoking. About one fifth of the participants had used tobacco (19%) in o...

Background: To find out if there is an association between levels of salivary Mutans Streptococci (MS) of mothers and salivary MS and Caries experience of their Children. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was designed among 180 mother-child pair attending Vanivilasa Children Hospital, Bangalore, India. Caries was diagnosed using WHO criteria. Ninety children with Early Childhood Caries (ECC) with their mothers were included in case group and 90 caries free children with their mothers were included in the control group. Whole non-stimulated saliva was collected from mothers and children and cultured for MS. Colonies were counted and compared. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10. Chi-square test and t-test were used to find differences between groups. P value of <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Among 180 children, 80 of them had a high MS count. Among them, 60 (75%) had ECC and only 20 (25%) were caries free. This difference was significant with P <...

This case report depicts corticotomy-assisted rapid orthodontic procedure known as periodontally accelerated osteogenic orthodontics (PAOO) without the use of bone grafts. A 28-year-old man, with class I malocclusion, congenitally missing upper laterals and severe spacing of maxillary anterior teeth,  was treated with the PAOO procedure. Labial and palatal mucoperiosteal flaps were reflected, and selected vertical corticotomy cuts upto 0.5mm in depth interdentally and horizontal cuts was performed around the roots in the maxillary arches. Orthodontic tooth movement was started immediately and adjusted every 3 weeks. Six months after corticotomy surgery, active orthodontic treatment was completed. No root resorption or detrimental periodontal effects were seen. The alveolar ridges of the
maxilla maintained its original thickness. It was thus concluded that PAOO is an excellent treatment approach in adults to accelerate the rate of tooth movement and shorten treatment time. This technique has recently gained popularity as an alternative treatment option for adults in whom the jaws are fully mature. Case selection is very important in PAOO and the orthodontist, oral surgeon and periodontist should team up for achieving excellent results. More clinical studies with increased number of patients
and long-term follow-up are needed to determine the effectiveness and stability of the results of these cases.

Background: Treatment of head and neck cancers may cause sequelae affecting patients’ quality of life during and after treatment. As a result, periodontal management of a patient with parotid gland adenoid cystic carcinoma, particularly in advanced stage 4, can be challenging for dental practitioners, especially if the patient is on active oral molecular therapy and undergoing long-term radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Purpose: This report was intended to describe the conservative non-surgical management of tooth 27 with poor prognosis owing to grade II mobility in a patient on active Lenvatinib therapy – where the extraction was not advisable to lessen the risk of osteonecrosis. Case: A 52-year-old female patient was referred by an oncologist to our dental clinic for noncarious toothache. Five years ago, the patient was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and had a treatment history of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgical removal of the left parotid gland to manage the m...

Background: To investigate whether fixed functional therapy for mandibular advancement with the Forsus™ appliance would produce any changes in the cervical spine posture. Materials and Methods: This prospective clinical exploratory study was conducted on 12 patients (six females and six males) with a mean age of 15 ± 1.3 years, having mandibular retrusion, Class II malocclusion, who were treated with the Forsus™ appliance. Lateral cephalogram was taken twice, once at the baseline (T1) before the commencement of the treatment and once following termination of fixed functional treatment (T2). Eleven measurements representing the vertical and the sagittal craniofacial proportions, and the head posture, were taken into account. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. The variations between before and after treatment measurements were collated using paired t-test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: No significant differences were noticed in the angle linking the horizontal lines of the head and the superior crest of the spinal column before and after the treatment, with P = 0.73. The cervical curvature angle also failed to show any significant difference with P = 0.14. Conclusion: Fixed functional therapy with the Forsus™ device resulted in dentoalveolar and soft tissue alterations alone but did not alter the cervical spine posture.

Introduction: Shisha, a form of smoking tobacco is known to be detrimental to oral health. Yet, the effects of shisha on oral health is not well documented. Hence, this study was undertaken to compare the clinical and cytological findings in oral cavity of young shisha smokers as compared to non-smokers. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was undertaken among 60 subjects including 30 young shisha smokers and 30 non-smokers. Clinical examination was carried out to record gingival status, periodontal status, oral hygiene and dental caries experience. Exfoliative cytology was used to study the cytological changes of buccal mucosal cells. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Student’s t-test, Fisher’s exact test and odd’s ration was used for comparison. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: No significant differences were found between the groups with respect to proportion of subjects with gingivitis (p = 0.071), erosion (p = 0.085) an...

A b s t r a c t Simvastatin (SMV) are specific competitive inhibitors which are widely used to lower cholesterol for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis. They have shown to modulate bone formation by increasing the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2, inflammation, and angiogenesis,3 thus providing a new direction in the field of periodontal therapy. The aim of this randomized trial was to assess the clinical and radiographic effects of 1.2% Simvastatin gel as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. The IL-6 level in the sulcular epithelium was also evaluated before and after treatment with 1.2% simvastatin. 60 sites were selected with minimum one intrabony defect and probing pocket depth of >5mm and were divided into 2 groups; 30 sites were treated with SRP and placebo (Group A) and 30 sites were treated with SRP along with Simvastatin (SMV) (group B). Clinical parameters recorded at baseline before SRP and at 60 ...

Introduction: Pit and fissure sealants are one of the most effective preventive dentistry measures. They have been demonstrated to be particularly efficient in preventing caries by blocking pits and fissures. The sealant effectiveness is mainly associated with their retention in the tooth surface.Objective: To compare & assess the retention between hydrophobic and hydrophilic fissure sealants placed on permanent first molars.Method: A total of 100 newly erupted upper & lower permanent first molars from 25 children were considered for the study. Teeth were separated into two equal groups. Group A with 50 right upper and lower permanent first molar teeth were sealed with for Conseal f sealant (SDI,Australia), and Group B with 50 left upper and lower permanent first molar teeth were sealed with Embrace Wet Bond (Pulpdent, USA) sealant. Clinical evaluation was carried out for all the teeth at the different time intervals of 3, 6 & 9 months.Results: At the end of 9 months, out of 50 teet...