Child abuse, a reprehensible act, pervades all strata of society. Dentists are more likely to encounter such cases in their daily practice. However, such cases usually go unreported due to lack of adequate knowledge. Practitioners flinch from reporting these due to various reasons, and this sets up a vicious cycle which traps the victim leading to grave long-term consequences. This review aims to collect all literature available on PubMed, PubMed Central, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Google search engines on the role of dentists in child abuse identification and information and summarize these details. The review will shed light on the identification of abuse in dental settings, the various legal recourses and organizations related to it, and how dentists can better equip themselves to tackle such cases if they come across one. The review also makes certain recommendations by which dentists and healthcare providers in general can better prepare themselves for such contingencies.

Enthusiastic participation by the younger generation in sports exposes them to a high risk of injuries. In the present study, the perceptions of sports coaches regarding their knowledge and experience of such injuries is evaluated. The coaches considered helmet as the most common protective device followed by mouth guard and facemask. About 58% observed that boxing was associated with oro-facial injuries and protective devices were deemed mandatory by 68% in this event. About 45% saw over five injuries in the last year, mostly soft tissue facial injuries (47%) and tooth loss (33%). Most injuries were in hockey and 32% were due to hits by ball, stick or related hard objects. About 82% were related to nonuse of protective devices. The majority of coaches considered that oro-facial devices be made more popular among sportspersons for their safety while 28% felt they reduced efficiency. The author concludes that there is a need to popularize the use of oro-facial protective devices in a variety of sports events in our country by interacting with coaches, sports administrators and sportspersons as well as familiarizing the Indian dentists in this relatively new field.

Background:The literature is replete with reports that pregnant women have an increased level of periodontal disease as compared with non-pregnant women of the same age. There are many studies correlating the effect of periodontal disease on the adverse pregnancy outcomes. The development of periodontal diseases during pregnancy can be influenced by factors such as preexisting oral conditions, general health, and socio-cultural background. There is very little data studying the effect of socio-demographic factors on the periodontal health of pregnant women. This study evaluated the periodontal status of a sample of pregnant women of Chandigarh and adjoining areas. The study also investigated the relationship between these variables and a series of demographic and clinical variables.Materials and Methods:The participants were 190 pregnant women attending Gynecology and Obstetrics outpatient department of Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. The participants were examined for their periodontal health and various socio-demographic variables were recorded on performas designed for the purpose of study. Statistical analysis was done.Results:The results revealed that the mean bleeding index scores and probing depth increased with statistical significance when the socio-economic status was lower (P<0.05). No significant differences were found in bleeding index scores and mean probing depth among different categories of profession, education, place of residence, and trimester of pregnancy (P>0.1). The plaque index was not significantly associated with the socio-economic status, profession, place of residence, and trimester of pregnancy (P>0.1).Conclusion:In the population of pregnant women investigated under this study, the clinical and socio-demographic characteristics showed non-significant correlation except socio-economic status which showed statistically significant correlation with bleeding on probing and pocket depth. Further studies may be required in Indian population to determine the association of periodontal diseases in pregnant women with socio-demographic variables.

No abstract

No abstract