Arunima Chauhan

Analysis of dental hard tissues exposed to high temperatures for forensic applications: An in vitro study

Aim: The aim of this study was to observe and record the macroscopic, radiographic, and microscopic findings obtained after subjecting the teeth to high temperatures. Materials and Methods: An in vitro study was conducted to observe macroscopic, radiographic, and microscopic changes in dental hard tissues in 60 unrestored non carious extracted human teeth. The teeth were grouped based on age: Below 30 years, 30–40 years, and above 40 years The teeth from each age group were further divided into five subgroups, and each subgroup was subjected to a particular temperature: 200

Dental pain and its impact on quality of life among indigenous adolescents of Himalayas (Ladakh), India.

#176;C, 400

Prevalence of Alcoholism and Related Problems in Medical and Paramedical Students Measured Using Shorter Version of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT)

#176;C, 600°C, 800°C, and 1000°C. [C = Celsius]. Results: Various degrees of changes in relation to temperature were observed macroscopically, radiographically, and microscopically. The histological examination was limited for teeth exposed to 200°C. Conclusion: This investigation was carried out to study the gross changes, radiographic changes and histological changes in dental hard tissues exposed to high temperatures, which is an important part of forensic science. The aforementioned alterations caused by heat may provide useful information about temperature ranges and duration of exposure to high temperatures.

Construct Validity and Reliability of Jefferson Scale of Empathy-health Care Provider (Student version) among Final Year, Interns and Post-graduate Students of a Dental College in India

Background: Ladakh has less than optimal oral health care services and a poor transport and connectivity with other areas of the country during most part of the year. Therefore, immediate address to any dental pain is not possible. This study aims to determine the prevalence of dental pain among 12-15-year-old schoolchildren of Leh, Ladakh after the commutation impairing time of the year. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2014 to determine the prevalence and impact of dental pain among adolescents residing in Leh, Ladakh. A total of 264 students in the age group of 12-15 years participated in the study. The data were obtained using a pretested questionnaire that elicited information on past experience (6 months) of dental pain and the resultant impact on their daily lives. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics was used for distribution of frequencies. Results: The response rate was 75.7%. Seventy-seven percent of the students reported dental pain in the past 6 months. About 89% of the students reported, at least, one impact due to dental pain. Females reported more than their male counterpart. Difficulty in eating was found to be commonly reported impact followed by difficulty in sleeping. Conclusions: The prevalence of dental pain and its impact was found to be high. There is a need for a paradigm shift in focus of oral health services from urban areas to remote and rural areas. Knowledge about the magnitude of dental pain can be used to evaluate and plan preventive and curative services in remote and rural areas.

Smokeless Tobacco: Profiling Sachets and Pattern of Use among Low Socioeconomic Population of Puducherry.

Introduction: Alcohol consumption is a growing public health problem. Medical and para-medical professionals are seen as role models in society. However, alcohol consumption is also becoming a matter of concern among healthcare students as well.Aim: To determine the prevalence of students who consumed alcohol and identifying those with alcohol disorders using short version of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT).Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in a Deemed Private University in Southern part of India. Data on alcohol consumption was collected from 405 medical, dental and nursing students using shorter five item version of AUDIT. Data on other variables like gender, age, place of current residence, religion, specialty and year of study was collected using closed ended questionnaire. Frequency distribution for proportions and Logistic regression analysis was done to determine the influence of predictor variable on outcome variable.Results: Overall Prevalence of alcohol use was found to be 79.5 percent. Among these 56.5 percent were found having alcohol related problems. Males reported higher problems than females. Logistic regression revealed gender {odd’s ratio: 1.015; (p=0.03)} and year of study {odd’s ratio: 0.743 (p=0.02)} to be influencing alcohol related problems.Conclusion: Prevalence of alcohol consumption and those with related problems was found to be more than 50 percent (both males and females). There is a need to draft and implement policies by university which utilizes existing resources to prevent the increasing proportion of students consuming alcohol, with associated problems.

Planning and implementing school oral health programs: A scoping review

Background: Empathy is a much talked about but ignored characteristic in India. Doctor-patients relationship goes a long way and invariably has a profound effect on the treatment outcomes. This study makes an attempt to determine the level of empathy among clinical students in the specialty of dentistry in Indian scenario.Aim: To determine the construct validity and reliability of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Care Provider Student version (JSE-HPS) with the secondary aim of assessing empathy levels with respect to age, gender and year of study.Settings and design: A cross- sectional observational study was conducted among clinical students of a dental institute in South India.Method and material: The JSE-HPS was administered to 150 students from final year, interns and postgraduate students. Descriptive and inferential statistics with Principal Component Analysis was performed to determine the construct validity. The reliability measured using Cronbachs Alpha.Differences of empathy scores with respect to age and gender assessed using independent t test. One way ANOVA with Tukeys post hoc test was used for empathy scores across year of study, with level of significance at p 0.05).Age had no significant effect on empathy scores. Within group comparison using one way ANOVA revealed significant differences for scores among interns and postgraduates (p<0.05).Conclusion: This study confirms the construct validity and internal consistency of JSE-HPS for measuring the empathy in an Indian study setting. Post-graduates scored higher than the Compulsory Rotatory Resident Internship [CRRI] and final year students. Age and gender had no effect on empathy scores when compared to year of study.

School Based Intervention Programme on Gingival Health of 10–12 Years Old Government Aided School Children of Basavangudi in Bangalore City – A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Tobacco consumption is highest among labor classes and low socioeconomic status (SES), with inclination toward smokeless tobacco (SLT). Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of SLT consumption with secondary objective to profile various sachets of SLT most commonly sold in the study setting. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted in rural Puducherry. Materials and Methods: A self-interviewed structured questionnaire was administered to 150 participants from two villages. Data on education, occupation, and income were collected with details in the form of tobacco consumed, duration of habit, daily consumption, and brand of SLT among other things. Profiling of sachets was done with manufacturing date, date of expiry, presence and absence of warning signs, and name of the manufacturer as parameter. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive analysis was done for frequency distribution and Chi-square test for proportions. Results: The overall prevalence of SLT was 44% with women consuming more than males. 41–50-year-old were highest users of SLT. More than 50% of the participants were unaware of the “pictorial warnings” and 65% did not know about the presence of “contents” on sachets. Pan masala with tobacco was the most preferred form. Only 5 of the 23 commercial brands of sachets had both “pictorial and readable warnings” printed. Conclusion: The prevalence of STC was high when compared to the general population. Steps need to be taken to address the adverse effects printed on sachets for low SES populations. The printed warnings need to be inspected regularly. Dual tobacco use is a new addition to the existing list of challenges.

Reliability of Malayalam version of Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index among institutionalized elderly in Alleppey, Kerala (India): A pilot study

Introduction: Most school oral health programs (SOHPs) focus on either oral health education or preventive aspects of oral health. This scoping review emphasizes the significance of the knowledge application to design and implement SOHP which is more industrious and result oriented. Aim: To highlight, those school dental health programs which have approached the school oral health from all possible planes, i.e., education, prevention, treatment needs, and follow-up. Materials and Methods: Document 11 of WHO information series on school health for planning the intervention was utilized to obtain the initial benchmark for “best practices.” Electronic database MEDLINE, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and SCOPUS were searched. Our search strategy included a 3 staged extraction. The first based on the title, the second was based on abstracts and the third stage was based on the full text. Hand search of the key journals was also done. Results: A total of four studies were finally selected and studied to indicate the best practices of the programs. Conclusion: Public health dentistry should now focus on SOHP planning and implementation in terms of management. We need to expand our horizons beyond clinical outcome and short-term goals to accumulate knowledge.

Can Altmetrics be Used to Evaluate Research

Objectives:To evaluate the effectiveness of a school based intervention program on gingival health of 10–12 year old government aided school children of Basavangudi in Bangalore city. Methods (Design):A 6 month randomized controlled trial was conducted on 264 subjects, aged 10–12 years to evaluate the effectiveness of school based intervention (oral health education) given in three different forms against a control group which received no intervention. These schools were randomly assigned as group A (control), Group B (class work), Group C (parental) and Group D (both classwork and parental). Intervention was given once every two months and their oral hygiene practices recorded by a questionnaire. The changes were recorded using Silness and Loe Plaque index and Loe and Silness Gingival index at pre and post intervention (2 months after the last intervention). Students t test and one way ANOVA was used to compare the mean differences between pre and post intervention scores, followed by Post hoc test for within group differences. Results:Reduction observed in plaque and gingival scores following interventions were statistically significant (p<0.001). Within groups comparison revealed significant differences for group C (p=0.002) and group B (p=0.021) for gingival scores, this was not observed in Plaque scores. A Hawthorne effect was also observed in control group. An improvement was also observed in oral hygiene practices. Conclusion:Parental involvement was found to improve gingival health. Oral health education given once every 2 months was found to reduce plaque and gingival scores.

From the perspective of lifeline express: Oral hygiene practices and reported barriers in rural India

Background: Oral health has a profound effect on the daily activities of geriatric group. India being a multilingual country, it is essential that instruments used to evaluate the quality of life is in local languages. However, the validation and translational aspect are important before involving a larger cohort of geriatrics. Aim: To assess the reliability of Malayalam version of Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI-m). Settings and Design: Institutionalized elderly in Alleppey, Kerala, cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: The 12 items in GOHAI were translated into Malayalam using a back-translation technique. The comprehensibility of the Malayalam version was assessed by a pilot study. Fifty institutionalized elderly answered the questionnaire. Impact based on age and marital status was also assessed. Statistical Analysis: Independent sample t-test, Cronbachs alpha, test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The mean GOHAI-m scores were higher for elderly participants with slightly more impact on quality of life such as for biting or chewing food, and lower mean GOHAI-m scores indicated a positive impact on quality of life such as their self-conscious of oral health. Cronbachs alpha of 0.677 was reached with 12 items. Item 12 had a negative item-total correlation, −0.016, the deletion of Item-12 increased the item correlation to 0.7. Test–retest reliability of 0.65 for ICC indicated moderate stability. Females had more impact than males (P < 0.05). Age and marital status had no impact on their quality of life. Conclusion: The primary analysis of GOHAI-m indicated moderate stability. The elimination of negative items depends on the objectives of the study and/or after conducting a larger study keeping in view various parameters of the study.