In this study, the functional and virulent classes of proteins that are targeted by ferulic acid are identified from the most common dental pathogens like Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis by an in silico approach. The target proteins were selected using STITCH tool, the functional class of proteins was predicted using VICMpred. The predicted virulent proteins were further subjected to BepiPred analysis, which returned the number of peptide epitopes present in the protein. Further, the subcellular location of the proteins was confirmed by the PSORTb tool. Ferulic acid was found to interact with virulence factors such as dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase of Streptococcus mutans, putative lipoprotein of P. gingivalis and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase of T. forsythia. The findings of the study emphasize the promising interactive role of ferulic acid and their potential protein targets in common oro-dental pathogens which requires further experimental validation in-vivo and in-vitro.

Tobacco use is reported to increase the chance of a person to get mouth, lip, and lung cancers, chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Tobacco-related deaths are reported to occur among almost six million individuals each year. The objective of the study is to assess awareness and perception on ill effects of tobacco usage among tobacco users in a dental institution. A self-administered survey form was distributed among 100 study participants. Google Forms were distributed in an online forum. The questions were related to awareness on ill effects of tobacco usage and perception regarding harmful effects of tobacco among tobacco users. Collected data were analyzed using statistical software. Among the 100 participants, 68% were males and 32% were females. 73% of the participants reported that they were aware that smoking causes lung disease. Graduated participants were more aware that reduced fertility and sexual impotence would develop among men due to tobacco use (Pearson Chi-square value - 29.380; P = 0.01). The present study suggested that even though most of the respondents had adequate knowledge about the effects of tobacco on general health, knowledge about the consequences of tobacco usage was still inadequate.

Introduction: Green synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extract, bacteria, fungi and enzymes are eco-friendly and cost effective which do need high pressure, energy, temperature and toxic chemicals for its synthesis protocol. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have various physical, chemical and biological properties which can be applied in the treatment of oral diseases. Aim: The main objective of the current study was to synthesize the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in a cost effective biological method. The extract of A. webbiana was used to synthesis Zinc oxide nanoparticles. Materials and Methods: In this report, we used the extract of A. webbiana to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles and were characterized using U-V visible spectrophotometer and were tested for their antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens. Results: These biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis, Candida albicans and can be developed as a novel medicine against pathogenic oral diseases. Abies webbiana extract mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles showed effective antimicrobial activity comparable to others. Conclusion: With increasing demand in advancements in diagnosis and treatment modalities, green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using A. webbiana which was found to have potent antimicrobial action has wider applications in dentistry. This formulation needs to be further purified to isolate the component in the extract that makes it effective to be used in large scale production for targeted drug delivery against a wide array of oral microbial infections.