Objective:The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of oral hygiene practices, smoking habits and halitosis among undergraduate dental students and correlating the oral hygiene practices, oral health conditions to the prevalence of self perceived oral malodour.Materials and Methods:A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 277 male and female students. A questionnaire was developed to assess the self-reported perception of oral breath, awareness of bad breath, timing of bad breath, oral hygiene practices, caries and bleeding gums, dryness of the mouth, smoking and tongue coating.Results:The results indicate female students had better oral hygiene practices. Significantly less self-reported oral bad breath (P = 0.007) was found in female dental students (40%) as compared to their male counterparts (58%). It was found that smoking and dryness of mouth had statistically significant correlation with halitosis (P = 0.026, P = 0.001). Presence of other oral conditions such as tongue coating and dental caries and bleeding gums also showed higher prevalence of halitosis in dental students.Conclusion:A direct correlation exists between oral hygiene practices and oral health conditions with halitosis. Females exhibited better oral hygiene practices and less prevalence of halitosis as compared to male students.

It is thus mandatory to focus on parents' education level, attitudes and family-structure when planning preventive programs for young children.

Objectives:To determine the level of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) in adults of Chandigarh and to correlate the dental caries in these individuals with their S. mutans titers.Materials and Methods:Salivary levels of Streptococcus mutans, using Dentocult SM commercial kits were estimated in 200, 25-35 year old adults (males and females). Streptococcus mutans were detected in 87% of the study sample. Score 2, representing 105-106 CFU/ml (Colony Forming Unit) of saliva was found to be most prevalent, i.e. in 80 of 200 adults, followed by score 1, depicting S mutans with <105 CFU/ml, in 56 of 200 adults and score 3, with bacterial titer >106 CFU/ml in 38 of 200 adults.Results:Dental caries, recorded using Møller's index, was found to be maximum in individuals with score 3, followed by score 2,1 and 0, thereby showing a positive correlation of dental caries with increasing titers of S. mutans. This correlation was statistically highly significant in males with figures as 8.73 decayed surfaces at score 2 rising to 17.38 at score 3. The mean of DMFT was higher among females than in the males in the present study.Conclusion:The split up data in males and females, showed a positive association between caries experience and salivary S. mutans scores. The results of the study will serve as a baseline data for future planning of preventive programs in adults.

No abstract

The use of visual pedagogy coupled with probiotic mouth rinsing may improve the periodontal status of children with HI and should be explored as a preventive procedure for children with special health-care needs.