School teachers in India constitute one of the biggest organized forces. They shape the future of the country and prepare the young ones for life. The present project has been undertaken to assess the dental awareness between Kannad a and English medium primary school teachers and to compare the dental awareness between Kannada and English medium primary school teachers in Mangalore city. A questionnaire was distributed to 117 Kannada medium primary school teachers and 75 English medium primary school teachers. The questionnaire had 18 questions, 7 on oral hygiene, 4 on dental visits, on sources of dental information, 1 on most important reason for taking care of teeth and gums, 1 on most common dental problem affecting the children, 1 on natural teeth were better than artificial teeth, 1 on loss of teeth would affect chewing and appearance, 1 on decayed teeth, 1 on prevention was better than cure. Statistical analysis was done using chi-square tests and P<0.05 was selected in describing levels of significance. Results: Regarding the methods and materials used for cleaning the teeth, almost similar practices were seen between both Kannada and English medium teachers. Regarding the type of toothbrush used, the usage of medium toothbrush among English medium teachers was more. Regarding the frequency of brushing most of Kannada medium schoolteachers cleaned twice daily compared to English medium schoolteachers. Kannada medium schoolteachers complained more of bleeding from the gums where as English medium schoolteachers visited dentist for dental pain. Kannada medium teachers claimed that dental treatment was not expensive. Regarding the usage of fluoridated toothpaste, majority of English medium teachers felt that it was better to brush teeth with fluoridated toothpaste as compared to Kannada medium schoolteachers.

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Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the earliest diseases affecting pre school children. Objective : The purpose of this study was to find out the feeding habits and to determine the prevalence of ECC among pre-school children of Davangere city. Methodology: A cross-sectional study consisting of 150 pre-school children aged 30-72 months who were accompanied by their mothers were selected. Assessment was done using questionnaire for the accompanied mothers and dental examination of their children. Later the data collected was subjected to statistical analysis using chi-square test. Results: 36% of the children examined were found to be affected with ECC. Feeding habits showed no statistical significance in this study (p 0.05). Statistical significance was observed with the increase of age (p 0.05). ECC was lesser in children brushing twice a day compared with those who brushed only once. Conclusion: It was observed that there was increased risk of developing ECC with bed time feeding habits and among those children weaned after 12 months of age.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to assess current status of knowledge about HlV/AIDS urban slum adolescents METHODS: A community based cross sectional study was undertaken in urban slum of Chennai city for a period of 15 days. Hundred adolescents in the age group of 15 to 20 years were recruited to be part of the study. Data was gathered through self-administered standardized questionnaire. RESULTS: 92% of the study participants have heard about lllVIAIDS and 96% of them considered it to be an important public health problem in India. We observed high levels of awareness on certain modes of transmission of lllVIAIDS. There was inadequate knowledge among the study participants regarding safe sex. More than 90% of the adolescents in our study felt that AIDS education must be provided in school/ college and in the community. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Adolescents have a positive attitude regarding lllVIAIDS education. AIDS education and individual counseling could be the tool to bring about attitudinal change and thus control this burgeoning epidemic.

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Background: Industrial workers constitute a well defined population and due to their poor life styles, oral diseases are seen more commonly in them. Objective: To assess the periodontal status of industrial workders in Davangere using Community Peridontal Index (CPO. Materials and Methods: The periodontal status of 310 industrial workers aged 19-60yrs was assessed using Community periodontal Index (CPI). A specially designed proforma was used to interview and examine the subjects. The data collected was subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-square test. Results: The overall prevalence of periodontal disease using CPI was 98.7% with most of the sextants (5.3) scored for bleeding on probing. As age increased, periodontal condition worsened (p < 0.05, significant). Conclusion: Periodontal disease was found to affect majority of this population. Thus, efforts should be taken to direct preventive and treatment approaches to meet the demands of this well confined population.

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Objectives: To assess the dental caries experience, salivary flow rate, buffering capacity, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli counts in 13 year old Belgaum schoolchildren, to determine the association between dental caries experience and the parameters and to use the data for creating caries risk profile. Material & Methods: 159, schoolchildren 13-year old, were selected from 4 schools in Belgaum city. DMFT was recorded using WHO criteria (1997). Paraffin stimulated saliva was collected for 5 minutes. Salivary flow rate, buffering capacity and salivary counts of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli were determined. Students't' test, chi square test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to statistically analyze the data. Results: 44.02% were caries free. The mean DMFT value recorded for the sample was 1.34. Mean flow rate of stimulated saliva was 1.160.6m1/min. 61.63% had high buffering capacity and 38.37% had intermediate buffering capacity. The percentage of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli carriers were 80.50% and 36.47% respectively. The salivary flow rate, buffering capacity and Lactobacilli count did not differ significantly with respect to the different caries experience, while a highly significant (p < O.OOl) difference was observed between the different DMFT values and Streptococcus mutans count. Conclusion: The data collected helped to create risk profile of the children and helped for planning and implementing a tailor-made caries preventive program.

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The aim of this study was to determine the perceived sources of stress related to particular year of study and its physical and psychological effects amongst the students and interns in D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pimpri, Pune. A questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 377 dental students. The main sources of stress were found to be financial resources for educational fees, instruments and materials, fear of instruments and books being stolen, studying seven vast subjects at a time, getting an ideal case for university clinical exam and to be financially dependent even after attaining 22 years of age. The study also showed that final year students had overall more stress. In gender comparison females suffered from moderate perception of stress. According to career choice decision, students forced by parents had moderate perception of stress. Moderate perception of stress was seen with 4th year students compared to first three years and interns.

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Objective: To assess the prevalence of tobacco related habits and degree of awareness with respect to the harmful effects of tobacco among dental professionals in Davangere. Methodology : A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 500 dental professionals. The closed ended questionnaire consisted of three sections to collect information to find out reasons for using tobacco and information regarding awareness of tobacco consumption. Results: The awareness among dental personnel with respect to the ill effects of tobacco was found to be good. However, 56.2% of them consumed tobacco in one or other forms. Conclusion: Efforts should be made to inculcate tobacco cessation in the dental curriculum, so that they play a positive role and contribute in their own ways in elimination and eradicating this habit.

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Prevention of periodontal problem and decalcification during orthodontic treatment demands oral hygiene maintenance and use of special toothbrushes. The study was conducted in the department of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, MCODS Manipal to determine the efficacy of orthodontic versus the regular tooth brush in fixed orthodontic appliance patients. Plaque samples, oral hygiene samples, and bonded bracket index were recorded at pretreatment, after 24 hours of banding and bonding and 3 months in treatment. The plaque was cultured on Mitis salivarius agar and lactobacillus agar. The results and observations of the study showed that both the orthodontic and regular tooth brush were equally effective in maintaining the oral hygiene and in controlling the levels of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus in orthodontic patients. Orthodontic tooth brush showed more fraying and wear compared to the regular tooth brush. The patient's motivation as well as compliance was the main factor, which determines the outcome of orthodontic treatment, including the maintenance of oral hygiene.

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Background: Tooth wear is relatively common problem and the source of many complaints. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence, etiology and severity of tooth wear among adult population of Davangere city, Kamataka (India). Methodology: The study was carried out on 284 adults of Davangere city by using Tooth Wear Index (TWI). Type ill clinical examination was followed as recommended by American Dental Association. Results: Out of 284 subjects examined, 51(17.9%) had abrasion, 50(17.6%) had attrition, 40(14.1%) had attrition and abrasion combined, 37(13%) had erosion. A total of 34,427 tooth surfaces were examined. 5109(14.90%) surfaces had tooth wear out of which 247(0.70%) were pathologically worn down. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that tooth wear is age related, which is observed in previous studies, as the age increases, the tooth wear goes on increasing and the wear pattern differs from patient to patient. Most of the etiological factors are multifactorial.

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Background: As oral pain, as well as pain in general is a public health problem. self-medication and non-doctor prescription of drugs are common in rural India. Objectives: To obtain data on prevalence's of Oral pain and its self-treatment one month prior to the study and to obtain infonnation on use of Complementary/Alternative medicine therapies for the treatment of Oral pain among the residents of rural communities of Polavaram mandai, Andhra Pradesh. Methods: Design: Cross-sectional population study. Setting: Rural areas of Polavaram Mandai, Andhra Pradesh, India. Participants: A sample of 430 adults aged 16-75 yrs of who 404 responded. Method of data collection: Data collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire through interview. Results: Of the participants 39.6% of them experienced some form of oral pain. Among those who experienced oral pain 68% of them took some form of self -medication and majority (72%) of them used CAM therapies as self-medication for their oral pain. CONCLUSION: Oral pain is a common symptom experienced by more than one-third of the study population. Since majority of them are using CAM therapies as a choice of self-treatment ,further research into implications of CAM therapies is required.

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Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence, severity and impact of oral pain on quality of life of children and to correlate the oral pain with dental diseases. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using stratified cluster sampling technique among 10 to 12 year old school children attending schools of Davangere city educational division. Total of 629 higher primary school children were interviewed using a structured, close ended questionnaire followed by oral examination. Results: In 629 children the prevalence of oral pain was 62% out of which, oral pain caused crying for 24.5%. The children complaining of pain in the previous six weeks was 34% (214). Among them the pain triggered while eating for 50.9%, stopped playing for 20.5% disturbed sleep for 28.5% and 16.8% of children did not attend the school. As caries experience increases from 0 to D 5 there is an increase in prevalence of pain from 16.2 to 80% which is statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Within the limits of the study the prevalence of oral pain is a sizable problem and has a substantial impact on the quality of life of children. This information can be used to motivate parents and health care professionals to seek earlier and provide more regular dental care for children.

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