The aim of this study was to evaluate the comparative status of oral health practices, oral hygiene, and periodontal status amongst visually impaired and sighted students. In this study, 142 visually impaired children from a blind school in the age group of 6-18 years were enrolled with a similar number of age and sex matched sighted students studying in different schools of Chandigarh. The outcome variables were oral hygiene practices, oral hygiene status, and periodontal status. The visually impaired had been found to have better oral hygiene practices, a nonsignificant difference of oral hygiene scores but a significantly high value for bleeding scores as compared to sighted students. Age wise comparisons showed that bleeding scores were highly significant in 9-11 years and 12-14 years age group as compared to 6-8 years and 15-18 years age group. It could be related that the increased prevalence of bleeding sites despite of better oral hygiene practices in visually impaired group might be the result of their handicap to visualize plaque.

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanners for the oral and maxillofacial region were pioneered in the late 1990s independently by Arai et al. in Japan and Mozzo et al. CBCT has a lower dose of radiation, minimal metal artifacts, reduced costs, easier accessibility, and easier handling than multislice computed tomography (MSCT); however, the latter is still considered a better choice for the analysis of bone density using a Hounsfield unit (HU) scale. Oral implants require localized area of oral and maxillofacial area for radiation exposure; so, CBCT is an ideal choice. CBCT scans help in the planning of oral implants; they enable measurement of the distance between the alveolar crest and mandibular canal to avoid impingement of inferior alveolar nerve, avoid perforation of the mandibular posterior lingual undercut, and assess the density and quality of bone, and help in planning of the oral implant in the maxilla with special attention to the nasopalatine canal and maxillary sinus. Hence, CBCT reduces the overall exposure to radiation.

Background: There is enough evidence, which suggests that nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) improved the glycemic control in patients of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with chronic periodontitis (CP). This meta-analysis is aimed to explore the effect of NSPT, exclusively scaling and root planing (SRP) as monotherapy on glycemic control and periodontal parameters in patients of T2DM with CP. Materials and Methods: Two databases, MEDLINE and EMBASE, were searched from June 2006 to June 2016. Initially, 464 potentially relevant studies were evaluated. Randomized controlled trials with duration of ≥3 months, based on the treatment group managed with SRP without any supportive use of local drug delivery or systemic antibiotics, while the control group received no periodontal therapy, were selected. This resulted in six appropriate articles with a total of 812 patients of T2DM with CP. Alteration in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was the primary outcome measure, whereas the changes in clinical attachment level (CAL) and probing pocket depth (PPD) were the secondary outcome measures. Results: SRP treatment resulted in a decrease in HbA1c by 0.26% ( P = 0.17) at 3–4 months compared to the control group. Further, on subgroup analysis, SRP therapy revealed a decrease in PPD and CAL at 3–4 months, though statistically insignificant. Conclusion: SRP treatment leads to modest improvement in glycemic status and periodontal parameters in T2DM patients with CP at 3–4 months.