To test the hypothesis that treatment with orthodontic appliances disturbs masticatory and swallowing performances. Twenty-seven subjects with malocclusions requiring orthodontic treatment were included in this prospective study. The masticatory and swallowing performances were evaluated at five different times: before bracket placement (T0), immediately after archwire placement (T1), 48 h after archwire placement (T2), 30 days after archwire placement (T3) and 3 months after the initial appointment (T4). Masticatory performance was determined by the median particle sizes for the Optocal test food after 15 chewing strokes, and the swallowing thresholds were registered for both the test food and a natural food (peanuts). Pain during mastication was evaluated using a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Masticatory performance was significantly reduced at T2, at which time patients reported the highest pain values. The time spent to the first swallow was increased at T2 for the natural food but not for the test food. The values for pain, masticatory and swallowing performances at T3 and T4 were similar to those at T0. Orthodontic patient masticatory function is only reduced during the period of higher pain experience, which could also disrupt the deglutition of harder foods. However, neither mastication nor deglutition processes were disturbed by orthodontic appliances in long-term treatment.

This study sought to provide an overview of current cariology education for undergraduate Brazilian dental students. Data collection was via a Portuguese version of a 12-item questionnaire that was sent to all Brazilian dental schools (n = 219). The response rate was 57.0% (n = 125). Of the schools that returned the questionnaire, 84.8% supported the development of a Brazilian cariology curriculum. The units responsible for teaching cariology were predominantly operative dentistry (49.6%), pediatric dentistry (49.6%), dental public health (44.8%), and cariology (32%). Theoretical teaching of cariology (74.4%) and pre-clinical exercises (63.2%) were cited to occur mainly during the second year of the course, while clinical activities were placed in the third (71.2%) and fourth (64.8%) years. Among respondents, 76.8% of the schools included dental erosion and 86.4% included defects of dental hard tissues, such as abrasion, in teaching cariology. This survey was able to determine the panorama of cariology education in Brazil and to detect some differences among Brazilian geographic areas. The promotion of a workshop to discuss the topics that should be taught to undergraduate dental students and the development of a Brazilian core curriculum in cariology would be likely to reduce the differences in teaching cariology in Brazil.

Objectives This two-arm, parallel-group, tooth-randomised, controlled noninferiority clinical trial aimed to compare survival rates between the sealing and restoring of cavitated occlusal carious lesions in dentine [International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) 5] of deciduous molars using resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (RMGIC) and to assess caries progression radiographically. Materials and methods A total of 68 molars with ICDAS 5 occlusal lesions were randomly allocated into two groups, a sealing group (n = 31), in which RMGIC was placed directly over the carious lesion, and a restoration group (n = 37), in which a restoration with the same material was placed after selective caries removal. During the baseline and follow-up visits, dental caries was registered and caries activity was assessed according to a visuotactile criterion. At baseline, patient caries status (dmf-t) and cavity depth and extent (mesiodistal and buccolingual) were measured before RMGIC placement. An independent and blinded examiner evaluated the treated teeth using the USPHS criteria after one and two years. Standardised interproximal radiographs were taken for caries progression assessments. Results During the follow-up period, no lesion progression was observed radiographically. After one year (n = 60; 27 sealed and 33 restored) and two years (n = 48; 23 sealed and 25 restored) of follow-up, the treatment success rates were 78.8% and 76.0% in the restoration group and 59.3% and 47.8% in the sealing group, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression showed that lesions smaller than 2 mm in the mesiodistal extent were less prone to fail after one year (p = 0.03). However, survival curves (log-rank test) were statistically significantly different only after two years (p < 0.001). Conclusions Sealing ICDAS 5 occlusal lesions of deciduous molars using RMGIC achieved lower survival rates than restorations. Both sealing and restoration effectively arrested caries progression for two years. Clinical relevance Sealing dentine carious lesions can be effective for treating lesions involving the inner and outer half of the dentine. Ultraconservative treatments can arrest carious lesions presenting obvious cavitation in primary molars. Trial Registration: ReBEC Register no. RBR-225n35.

Influence of isolation technique on the survival of resin-modified glass-ionomer restorations in primary molars: a 9-months randomized controlled trial.