Bioceramics include ceramic materials specifically designed for use in medicine and dentistry. These materials are mainly alumina, zirconia, bioactive glass, glass ceramics, coatings, composites, hydroxyapatite and resorbable calcium phosphates. Dental applications include dental implants, in periodontal treatment, alveolar ridge augmentation, maxillofacial surgery, pulp capping and apexification. The use of alumina and zirconia can be seen for prosthetic devices although calcium phosphate based materials are used for filling bone defects. Bioceramics are biocompatible, non-toxic, do not shrink and are chemically stable within the biological environment. Bioceramic sealers allow the enhanced use of bioceramics. The future of bioceramics is very promising. Recently, bioceramic putty has been introduced for primary teeth along with other fast repair materials.

Aim of the study is to evaluate the correlation between dental caries and salivary flow, pH and buffering capacity in young adult South Indian population. According to DMFT scores eighty subjects between 20 to 30 years of age were divided into four groups. Saliva samples collected were estimated for salivary flow, pH and buffering capacity and the data was statistically analysed. The pH, flow rate, buffering capacity showed a steady decrease with an increase in the DMFT values; which was statistically significant. The salivary flow, pH and buffering capacity increases with decrease in caries activity.

No abstract

No abstract

Aim: In the present era of relationship-based care, effective communication between practitioners and patients vastly affects treatment planning and ultimately patient satisfaction.This study compared the communication skills of two groups of final year's undergraduate dental students with and without prior training in effective communication. Methodology: Eighty final year student were asked to participate in the study. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of forty each. One group received training in history taking and effective communication with patients, through a course that spanned across three hours. The remaining forty were not put through the course. Subsequently all the eighty students were asked to examine one patient each and record patient case history. The communication skills of the students were evaluated by the patients in the form of a feedback questionnaire provided to them after the dental examination. Results: The results indicated that students who had received training in communication skills were rated significantly higher than the untrained student in all aspects of communication Conclusion: Proper training improved communication skills significantly among dental students