Introduction: Oral health status is linked to oral health behaviour and dental neglect can be an important parameter for assessment of oral health status. Such evaluation will help in providing and planning appropriate health promotion activities to target population. Objective: To assess socio-demographic variations in Dental Neglect (DN) and to determine the association between DN and oral health. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study done at dental hospital in Dhulikhel from September-November 2020. A sample of 327 aged 16-30 years were selected by convenience sampling technique. Demographic details along with DN were collected through the DN questionnaire. Both self-reported oral health and oral health status were assessed. Oral health status was determined by using the Oral Hygiene Index-simplified (OHI-S) and the Decayed Missing Filled index (DMFT). Results: Majority 170 (52%) of the sample were from high DN group. A total of 187 (57.2%) of the participants rated their oral health status as all right. Higher number of participants were seen in the fair group of oral hygiene status. Significant correlations were found between education and OHI-S scores. Mean DMFT score was 3.6±1.6 which had higher mean Decayed (D) component as compared to the Missing (M) and Filled (F) components in the index. Conclusion: Dental neglect is present among the study population and is associated with self-reported oral health status. Disparities were observed between the socio-demographic variables and DN. The DN Scale can be used in dental health promotion and also in evaluation of health promotion interventions.

Introduction: Gonial angle measurements serve as an important parameter of the craniofacial complex and are usually studied on lateral cephalograms, but recently panoramic radiographs have also been used. The aim of this study is to measure the gonial angle using orthopantomogram and lateral cephalogram based on age, gender, ethnicity, and skeletal malocclusion in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study comprising 350 selected radiographs of apparently healthy individuals collected for a period of one year, from the Department of Oral Radiology of a tertiary care centre of Nepal. Gonial angle measurements were recorded from digital panoramic radiograph (both right and left side) and lateral cephalogram. Data was collected in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and skeletal malocclusion and then statistically analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Results: The mean gonial angle for panoramic right, left and lateral cephalogram was 122.490±7.570, 123.620±7.060, and 124.150±6.910, respectively. There was a decrease in the mean values of the gonial angle observed as age advances seen in all the radiographs. The gonial angle measured in Class III malocclusion was higher in all the radiographs, followed by Class II and Class I. Gonial angles obtained in females were higher than the males in all the radiographs. Finally, the Aryan population showed a higher gonial angle compared to the Mongolian population in all the radiographs. Conclusions: Panoramic radiograph (left side), could be considered as a reliable tool to measure the gonial angle.

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Background: For a successful inferior alveolar nerve block, good knowledge of position of mandibular foramen is imperative. Objectives: To evaluate the position of mandibular foramen in relation to mandibular occlusal plane and anterior border of ramus in a selected population of children in Nepal using digital panoramic radiographs. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was done after ethical approval in convenient sample of 180 children of 3-13 years in department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Dhulikhel Hospital from January 2021 to August 2021. Their digital panoramic radiographs were analysed using software Rainbow TM Image Viewer version 1.0.0.0. Mean with standard deviation were calculated for linear measurements taken from mandibular foramen to mandibular occlusal plane and deepest point on the anterior border of ramus. Paired t-test was used to compare measurements between right and left sides. Student t-test was used to evaluate the difference between boys and girls. Pearson correlation was used to observe the correlation of age with the linear measurements. Results: The mean linear measurements increased along with the increase in age (p <0.05). There was statistically significant difference in linear measurements between the two sides of mandible except in 3-4 years children for mandibular foramen to anterior border of ramus which was not significant (p = 0.090). There was no significant difference in linear measurements between boys and girls. Conclusion: For inferior alveolar nerve block, the needle should be placed below the occlusal plane in children up to seven years of age and above for higher ages.