Honesty and integrity are key characteristics expected of a doctor, although academic misconduct amongst medical students is not new. Academic integrity provides the foundation upon, which a flourishing academic life rests. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitude of undergraduate dental students about the seriousness of cheating behaviours and to determine the rate of malpractice amongst these students. A self designed closed ended questionnaire was distributed to 300 undergraduate students in a Dental Institution in India, to rate the seriousness of six cheating behaviours and to assess the rate of malpractice. The response rate was 100%. Two of the six cheating behaviours were considered by at least 61% of the students as very serious cheating behaviours. Almost 70% of the students agreed that they have involved in malpractice in examinations at least once. The majority also felt that cheating in examinations will not have any significant effect on their future. This study has revealed that cheating is an important issue, which needs to be addressed for the benefit of the society at large.

Objective: Fluoride has been an effective tool to prevent dental caries but efforts have been on to establish optimal level of fluoride in drinking water in different communities. The present study seeks to establish the safe and acceptable concentration of fluoride in drinking water which would lead to maximum caries protection with least amount of clinically observable dental fluorosis. Study Design: 30 villages from 2 districts of Haryana were classified according to differing levels of fluoride in the drinking water. 3007 school children(1558 males & 1449 female)] were examined and the DMFT score was related to the level of fluoride in drinking water. Results: The caries prevalence was maximum (48.02%) in the area having 0.50 ppm fluoride in drinking water. The children from area having the 1.13 ppm fluoride level had the least caries prevalence i.e. 28.07%. Conclusion: The results of the present study did not suggest any additional anticaries benefit beyond 1.13ppm fluoride level. The present investigation showed that the optimal fluoride levels for drinking water for our conditions were near 1.13ppm (1-1.2 ppm) as there was maximum caries protection with least amount of esthetically objectionable fluorosis at that level.

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The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of and relationship between dental caries and dental fluorosis at varying levels of fluoride in drinking water. The study was conducted among 3007 school children in the age group of 12 to 16 years in 2 districts of Haryana having varying fluoride levels in drinking water. Type III examination for dental caries according to the WHO index and dental fluorosis estimation according to Dean's index was done. The prevalence of dental caries decreased from 48.02% to 28.07% as fluoride levels increased from 0.5 to 1.13 ppm, but as the fluoride level increased further to 1.51 ppm, there was no further reduction in caries prevalence, but there was a substantial increase in fluorosis prevalence. The optimum level of fluoride in drinking water was found to be 1.13 ppm, at which there was maximum caries reduction with minimum amount of esthetically objectionable fluorosis.

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