BACKGROUND : Very few studies are conducted in India to know the prevalence and treatment needs for malocclusion using Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). OBJECTIVE : The purpose of this study was to evaluate prevalence of malocclusion and need for orthodontic treatment in a sample of 13-15 year old school children in Davangere city. METHODOLOGY : The study was carried out on 300 school children of Davangere city using Dental Aesthetic Index. Type ill examination recommended by American Dental Association was used. RESULTS :the mean DAI score of the whole series was 23.7 (range 13-47). The distribution of the four DAI grade was : DAI 1 no abnormality or minor malocclusion 61.3%, DAI 2 definite malocclusion 24.3%, DAI 3 severe malocclusion 10.7%, DAI 4 very severe or disabling malocclusion 3.7%. There was no statistically significant differences in DAI scores between gender. CONCLUSION : This present study shows the 38.7% of the children examined had malocclusion which requires treatment.

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BACKGROUND : There have been relatively few investigations of oral conditions of disabled children. Several studies have noted that the disabled children have higher level of caries and a lower level of care. OBJECTIVE : To assess the caries experience among 6-18 yr old deaf and dumb children of "Mouneshwara Residential School" of Davangere region, as the disabled children are the neglected lot of the community. METHOD : Cross sectional study was conducted on a sample consisting of all the 280 deaf and dumb children of 6-18 yr age group. Specially designed proforma was used and information about oral hygiene habits and dietary habits were recorded. DMFT index was recorded. RESULTS : Showed high percentage (93.9%) decayed teeth and only 0.4% filled teeth. Mean DMFT was 1.64. CONCLUSION : Mean DMFT was 1.64. 93.9% were decayed teeth, only 0.4% of the teeth were treated by providing filling. This is a highly alarming situation. Immediate intervention is recommended for this group of children involving voluntary health agencies and conducting treatment camps. Efforts must be made to encourage the parents of these children to promote and improve their oral health

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BACKGROUND: These mentally disabled children are a special group and the maintenance of their oral hygiene is dependent on the oral health awareness of their teachers and caretakers. OBJECTIVE: To assess the oral health related knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers and the caretakers of the mentally disabled children of two schools in Davangere. METHODS: A structured questionnaire was used to interview a total of 93 teachers and 30 caretakers. RESULTS: The teachers and the caretakers were generally well informed and had moderate attitudes and behaviors towards oral health, but important deficiencies especially related to use of fluoride and utilization of dental services was seen. Only 41.9% of teachers and 10% of caretakers knew the benefits of fluoride. 48.7% of teachers and 30% of the caretakers had taken the children to visit the dentist. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the need for directing more efforts to upgrade the oral health awareness of this positively oriented population.

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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward toothbrush replacement and maintenance among interns of Dental colleges in Mangalore, India and to identify their own habits and information provided to their patients regarding toothbrush care. Materials and Methods: 167 interns participated in this study and data was collected by a pretested closed-ended questionnaire. Results: 85% of the interns recommended their patients to change their toothbrush and majority of them (66.95%) selected a 3 month interval for toothbrush replacement. Most of the interns (88%) thought that toothbrush wear affects removal of plaque. 34.10% of the respondents felt toothbrush can be best maintained by rinsing them under water and air drying in bathroom. Though 89.20% of the interns believed toothbrush harbours bacteria, only 40.90% advised their patients to soak their toothbrush in cleansing solutions. Oral B was the most popular toothbrush brand used by the interns. Many of them (65.30%) also changed their toothbrush every 3 months. There existed a highly statistically significant correlation (p < 0.0001) between the time interval which interns preferred to change their toothbrush and what they advised to patients. Conclusion: It is concluded that thorough knowledge regarding toothbrush replacement is adequate among interns. However certain confusion exists regarding toothbrush maintenance and the benefits of prebrushing mouthwash.

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A study was conducted to assess the current Oral health Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviors among different professional college students (n=500) in Hubli - Dharwad. Karnataka state, India. Convenience samples of five professional colleges (Agricultural, Pharmacy, Law; Engineering & Medical) were selected for the study. From each college, 100 students were selected randomly by using simple random sampling procedure. A questionnaire on oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviors was presented to the five professional college students. The mean age was 22.6 years. A significant higher mean rank score of oral health knowledge was observed in medical professionals (297.20) compared to Pharmacy (248.40), Law (247.37); Engineering (243.30) and Agricultural professionals (216.15). A better attitude scores were observed in medical professionals (260.93) followed by Agriculture (256.94), Engineering (249.80), Law (246.63), and Pharmacy (238.2) professional students. But a significant higher oral health behavioral scores were observed in Pharmacy (272.59) followed by Law (269.76), Agriculture (265.24), Engineering (254.59) and Medical professionals (189.33). The results imply medical professionals have significantly better oral health knowledge scores (H=43.7600, <().01, S) and attitude scores (H=19.1800, <0.01, S) compared to other professional students. But, Pharmacy professionals have significant higher behavioral scores (H=52.3400, <0.01, S) than the other professionals. The highest percentage (61%) of variation was observed in attitude scores followed by 59% in oral health knowledge scores and 43% in behavioral scores between the five professional students.

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BACKGROUND: Visually handicapped patient presents a special challenge to the dental health care team and the blind children lack skills of oral hygiene practices. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the caries experience among 6-18 year old school going disabled blind children of a residential school at Bangalore. METHODOLOGY: The study was carried out on 220 blind children of Shri Ramanamaharshi residential school, Bangalore. WHO criteria was used for caries diagnosis. Type ill examination recommended by American dental association was used for this study. DMFI' index was used for recording the caries status. RESULTS: The sample consisted of all the 220 blind children who were residing in the school. The mean DMFf observed was 2.1. Out of 220 examined 150 had caries (68.2%), 5 had missing teeth (2.27%) and only 1 subject had a filled tooth. CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that this group of disabled children were highly neglected. It is appropriate to organize special health care camps at this institute at the earliest. Efforts must be made to educate the parents of this disabled group explaining the importance of oral health.

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BACKGROUND: AIDS is a major public health problem and is projected to increase greatly over the coming years. Nurses will be called upon with their role to provide care for the sick and to prevent the spread and transmission of HN. OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes among staff nurses of Davangere towards HIVIAIDS to develop future training modules. METHODOLOGY: 288 staff nurses working in 2 hospitals of Davangere were interviewed. A questionnaire comprising of 27-close-ended questions and 1 open-ended question was utilized. RESULTS: Mean age of the sample was 28.4 yrs and mean job experience was 5.8 yrs. The nurses showed satisfactory knowledge, but misconceptions regarding precautionary measures and infection control measures were present. 68% opined that boiling would not kill the virus. 33.3% were unwilling to provide care for HN patients and 75.7% opined that handling HIV AIDS patient was too time consuming. CONCLUSION: Overall knowledge and attitude among staff nurses was found to be satisfactory, but deficiency of some areas of infection control might lead to negative attitude impeding proper care.

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Forensic science often finds it inapt to deal with cases related to identification of various cases like child abuse; skeletonized, decomposed, burned or dismembered bodies. Thus it becomes the liability of the dentist to identify the victim who is, more often than not, mutilated beyond the point of recognition even by his own relatives. Dentist is also better equipped to identify the pattern of bite marks especially in cases of rape victims and child abuse. Furthermore increased terrorist activity has the potential to cause mass casualties. The number of victims often overwhelms the ability of local jurisdictions to identify the causalities in an accurate and timely fashion. Most identifications are usually made through the comparison of ante mortem dental records with post mortem radiographic and clinical findings. Also certain biological weapons produce oral manifestations earlier than corporeal ones. This necessitates understanding of forensic odontology.

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