The purpose of the study was to assess the characteristics of dental trauma in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). The study group consisted of 68 individuals (36 boys and 32 girls) who visit daily a school dedicated for children with CP. Their age ranged between 7 and 21 years with a mean age of 12.6 years. The majority (74%) required a wheel chair for mobility, 13% used a walker and the others were able to walk with crutches or without aid. The parents were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their child's age, gender, medical history, and history of dental trauma. The teeth were evaluated clinically for evidences of past injuries to the teeth, enamel defects in the permanent incisors, scars on the chin and size of overjet. Thirty-nine individuals (57%) had signs of trauma to the permanent teeth. Sixty-eight teeth, mostly the maxillary central incisors, were injured. Boys were slightly less affected than girls, 56% (20/36) and 59% (19/32), respectively. Fracture of enamel and dentine was the most common type of injury (62%). Scars on the chin were detected in 28% of the individuals but only one had fractures of the molar (primary) teeth. The overjet ranged between -3.0 and +14 mm but no correlation could be found between the size of the overjet and tendency to injure the teeth. Localized enamel defects were detected on the labial surface of 13 teeth in nine individuals, probably due to luxation injuries to the primary incisors. The prevalence of dental injuries in a group of individuals with CP was found to be much higher than that of healthy populations despite the fact that CP individuals do not take part in violent sport activities as healthy children do. This should alert caregivers to carry out a profound investigation of the events that result in dental injuries in disabled individuals and suggest methods to reduce this type of morbidity.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate dental anxiety among patients anticipating various dental treatments. One hundred and eighty patients who were scheduled for specific dental treatments at the School of Dental Medicine, the Hebrew University--Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel participated in the study. Patients were anticipating one of the following dental procedures: scaling, filling, root canal therapy, preparation for crown, periodontal surgery or extraction. For each of the six dental treatments, 30 patients were selected at random. Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) questionnaires were completed by the patients while waiting for their treatments. The results indicated that extraction caused the highest score, followed by scaling (though not significantly). Patients in the 35 to 49 year age group showed the highest total DAS scores. Women demonstrated higher total DAS scores than men. The relative influence of gender, type of treatment and age on the anxiety scores is demonstrated by using logistic regression, which revealed gender to have the strongest impact on the DAS scores, followed by the type of treatment and age.

DS may manifest itself in the salivary glands. Consequently, different electrolyte salivary environment may form, leading to lower caries rates among DS children.

It is concluded that individual personality traits may be the final factor to indicate those who will eventually develop higher dental anxiety, and those who will not. The difference could be also in the conditioning process and learned responses (male and female education) that these individuals have experienced in life.

autistic children have a relative age of one half, meaning they function at half the level of normally developed children at their chronological age, more eating problems and more persistent oral habits yet no correlation to dental health could be shown. Caries experience of autistic children was lower than in the control group, maintaining good oral hygiene is difficult for autistic children yet their gingival health was found to be good.