SUMMARYTaurodont teeth are characterised by large pulp chambers at the expense of roots. An enlarged pulp chamber, apical displacement of the pulpal floor and no constriction at the level of the cement-enamel junction are the characteristic features of taurodont tooth. It appears more frequently as an isolated anomaly but its association with syndromes and other abnormalities have also been reported. Permanent dentition is more commonly affected than deciduous dentition. This paper presents a case report of taurodontism in relation to mandibular deciduous second molars. BACKGROUND

Eruption of teeth at or immediately after birth is a relatively rare phenomenon. These teeth are known as 'natal' teeth if present at birth and 'neonatal' teeth if they erupt during the first 30 days of life. Natal teeth might resemble normal primary dentition in size and shape; however, the teeth are often smaller, conical and yellowish and have hypoplastic enamel and dentin with poor or absent root formation. Complications include difficulty and discomfort during suckling, sublingual ulceration, laceration of the mother's breasts and aspiration of the teeth. These situations would warrant extraction. If the tooth does not interfere with breast feeding and is otherwise asymptomatic, no treatment is necessary. Negative cultural attitudes towards natal teeth demand good parental counselling and vigilant management in relation to child protection. Both general practice dentists and paediatric dental specialists may be involved in the supervision or treatment of patients with natal and neonatal teeth.

The case of sublingual ulceration associated with erupted primary mandibular incisors in a 1-year-old child is presented. Sublingual ulceration is termed as Riga-Fede disease if the patient is less than 2 years old. Generally, the treatment methods for Riga-Fede’s disease are discing and extraction of the traumatised teeth. Here, the child was treated with photo-polymerised composite resin coverage of the incisal edges of erupted mandibular incisors. The photo-polymerised resin coverage proved to help in the rapid healing of the ulcerations.

Introduction: Dental trauma has emerged as a significant aspect of dental public health. Traumatized teeth require early and appropriate treatment, which frequently relies on the competence of the dentists, doctors, and nurses who provide the primary care. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of paramedical students about the emergency management of avulsed tooth. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey consisting of 17 questions was designed and circulated among 365 paramedical students (nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy) of Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India, to assess their knowledge and attitude about the emergency management of avulsed tooth. Descriptive statistics were applied by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0. Results: Total 260 (71.23%, mean age of 23 years) students responded, with 71 students from Physiotherapy, 106 from Nursing and 83 from Pharmacy. A total of. 178 (68.46%) students comprehend the meaning of avulsion. While 193 (74.23%) students had knowledge that tooth re-implantation is possible. Of all the respondents, 192 students (73.84%) were familiar about the benefit of mouth guards for prevention of sports injury and 125 students (48.07%) opined that it is very important to be acquainted with emergency management of dental trauma. Conclusion: Though the paramedical students had good understanding about tooth avulsion, they were unaware about the emergency management of the situation. This warrants the need of incorporating training programmes dedicated to the subject in their curriculum.

The findings of the present study showed that overall caries experience was low but the treatment need was high among these institutionalized disabled individuals.