IntroductionBecause parents play a key role in children’s dental health, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between parents’ oral health literacy (OHL) and their children’s dental health status in Babol, Iran.MethodsIn this cross sectional study a total of 384 children aged 21 months to 84 months who attended the dental clinic of Babol University of Medical Sciences between September 2015 and February 2016 were examined. We measured dmft index only for primary dentition; during examination the accompanying parent completed the “Oral Health Literacy-Adults Questionnaire”. Comparing mean analysis, such as one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and an independent-samples t-test, served to compare children’s dental caries, missing, and dental fillings’ mean differences, between subgroups. In addition, the relationship between OHL, children’s dental caries, and dental fillings was assessed using multiple linear regression models while controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors. All data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.ResultsChildren’s mean age was 55.1 months (SD: 13.7), while 47% were girls. Mean children’s dental caries, missing, filling, and mean dmft index were 6.5, 0.4, 1.2, and 8.2 respectively. Parents with inadequate OHL had children with more dental caries (p=0.005), however this relation had no significance while controlling for background factors. Increasing children’s dental fillings was significantly related with families living in urban regions (p=0.01, 95% CI: 0.11 to 1.12), and parents with adequate OHL (p=0.02, 95% CI: 0.08 to 1.05).ConclusionInadequate parents’ OHL was associated with children having high dental caries and less dental fillings. Therefore, providing interventions to improve parents’ OHL would be valuable in children’s dental health promotion programs, especially in countries with a developing oral health system.

Aim: To assess the failure rates of various pediatric dental treatments performed under general anesthesia (GA) after six months to five years of follow-up. Design: This multicenter retrospective cohort study was performed on patients treated by five pedodontists in two private hospitals located in northern Iran during 2010–2013 and comprised 155 patients. The patients were recalled and clinically examined. During the clinical examination of the primary teeth, oral hygiene, dmft index, and failure of previous treatments was evaluated. The data were analyzed using the Chi square and regression analyses with a significance level of 0.05. Results: 114 patients (74 males and 40 females, mean age: 37.17 ± 10.75 months) with 1155 primary teeth treated under GA participated in the follow-up. The overall failure rate was 6.59%. The failure rates of pulpectomy, pulopotomy, fissure sealant, stainless steel crown (SSC), amalgam, and composite fillings were 2.90%, 3.03%, 4.83%, 5.26%, 5.33%, and 9.63%, respectively. Among the confounding factors, only gender had a significant effect on the anterior composite failure rate (p = 0.029) and age had a significant effect on the failure rate of fissure sealant therapy (p = 0.015) and SSC (p = 0.018). Conclusion: The overall rate of treatment failure in pediatric patients, treated under GA, was 6.59%.

IntroductionColored compomers are a group of restorative materials that were introduced in 2002 to repair primary teeth, and they provide attractive color and ease of use in pediatric dentistry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of QTH and LED light-curing units on the surface hardness of different colors of Twinky Star compomers.MethodsIn this experimental study, a composite resin (Z250, 3M, and USA), an ionosit compomer (DMG, Germany) with A3 shade and 8 different Twinky Star colored compomer (Voco, Germany) samples were used. In all, 100 samples were prepared with 10 samples in each group, i.e., 10 Z250 composite resin, 10 ionosit compomers, and 10 Twinky Star compomer samples of each color. The samples were prepared in a 4×4-mm Teflon mold. Half of the samples were light-cured with QTH and the other half with LED units. Then, the surface microhardness was measured by Vickers hardness test. The data were analyzed with IBM-SPSS version 22, using the t-test and ANOVA.ResultsTwo-way ANOVA showed that the mean surface hardness of the compomer samples cured with the QTH unit was significantly higher than that cured with the LED unit (p < 0.001). In each curing unit, surface hardness of some materials exhibited significant differences with the highest hardness being observed in the Z250 composite resin (650.35 ± 56.320) and the lowest hardness being detected in the ionosit compomers (461.10 ± 96.170). One-way ANOVA also showed that, among the different colors of the Twinky Star compomer, the lowest hardness with both units (QTH and LED) was observed in the gold color (214.32 ± 22.026 and 175.116 ± 15.918, respectively).ConclusionThe colored compomer and the type of light-curing unit affected the microhardnesses of the surfaces. Different colors of Twinky Star compomers exhibited different surface microhardnesses.

IntroductionThe Aloysia citriodora plant from the family of Verbenaceae has many uses in traditional medicine. The aim of the current study was to determine the effects of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of A. citriodora on Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, which cause tooth decay.MethodsThis 2016 study was performed on standardized strains of S. mutans PTCC1683 and S. sobrinus PTCC1601 and clinical isolates. Twenty clinical samples were obtained from the dental caries of children admitted to the pediatric ward at the Faculty of Dentistry of Babol University of Medical Sciences (Babol, Iran). The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of A. citriodora leaves were prepared in several concentrations ranging from 625–20,000 μg/ml. These concentrations of the extracts were applied to the bacteria by disk diffusion, agar well diffusion, and macrotube dilution. The antibacterial effects of amoxicillin and chlorhexidine digluconate 0.2% (CHX) were also carried out. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 18 software using independent-samples t-test.ResultsStreptococcus spp. was successfully isolated from nine out of 20 (45%) specimens. Of the 9 positive samples cultured, 8 (88.8%) were S. mutans and 1 was S. sobrinus (11.2%). No inhibitory zone was observed around the disks and wells containing all concentrations of A. citriodora extracts. The minimum concentrations for inhibition of growth (MIC) resulted in turbidity in all tubes and were negative except for the control tubes. Inhibition zones were observed for amoxicillin and CHX disks (p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study found that all studied bacteria were resistant to both types of the extracts; therefore, they are not a suggested replacement for chemical agents in mouthwash. It also shown that CHX is less effective than amoxicillin.

Background and objectiveMalnutrition, pain, and insomnia are common adverse effects of early dental caries among 3–6-year-old children. To increase our understanding of the dental caries status which will help in the control and prevention of it, this study aimed to assess the trend of dental caries, Severe Early Childhood Caries (S-ECC) and its related factors among 3–6-year-old children during a 9-year period in Babol, Northern Iran.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study among 2,080 children aged 3–6 years old in Babol, Northern Iran. The studied samples were examined from May 2007 to June 2015. Oral examinations were performed with visual-touch technique. S-ECC was measured as number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth surface (dmfs). Data were evaluated by SPSS software for Windows version 23 and were analyzed using the one-way ANOVA, chi-square test and independent-samples t-test. Level of significance was set at ≤ 0.05.ResultsThe trend of dental caries and S-ECC rose among 3–6-year-old children over a 9-year period. Of the children, 26.3% were caries free. The mean dmft was increased significantly among boys (p<0.001), among 3–4-year-old children (p=0.01), and those children with both employed parents (p=0.01) and low educated parents (p<0.001) from 2007 to 2015.ConclusionDental caries status showed an increasing trend over the study period in Babol preschool children, therefore effective preventive strategies are required to decrease the prevalence of dental caries in children.