Carolina Covolo da Costa

Plaque removal by manual and electric toothbrushing among children

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of plaque control performed with electric and manual toothbrushes. Fifteen children with primary dentition and 14 children with mixed dentition were divided in two groups and randomly assigned to utilize a manual or an electric toothbrush. In the first session, professional plaque removal was performed, and the children spent 24 hours without brushing their teeth. In the second session, plaque was disclosed and assessed on all facial and lingual surfaces. After that, all children brushed their teeth with the predetermined toothbrush. The next procedure was the disclosure and measurement of residual plaque. After a period of 7 days, the children switched the kind of toothbrush, and the same procedures were repeated. According to the statistical analysis of the results, there were no significant differences concerning plaque removal when the toothbrushes were utilized by children with mixed dentition. On the other hand, the electric toothbrush promoted significantly greater plaque removal on the lingual surfaces of teeth from children with primary dentition.

Análise do impacto econômico-assistencial de duas abordagens para redução de custos em um plano odontológico de autogestão

The present study evaluated the dental care plan offered to 4,000 employees of a private hospital and their respective families. The analysis covered three stages: (1) baseline (control), when dental care was provided by an outsourced company with a network of dentists paid for services, (2) a renegotiation of costs with the original dental care provider, and (3) provision of dental care by the hospital itself, through directly hired dentists on regular salaries. Monthly economic and clinical data were collected for this research. The dental plan renegotiation reduced costs by 37% in relation to baseline, and the hospitals own dental service reduced costs by 50%. Renegotiation led to a 31% reduction in clinical procedures, without altering the dental care profile; the hospitals own dental service did not reduce the total number of clinical procedures, but modified the profile of dental care, since procedures related to the causes of diseases increased and surgical/restorative procedures decreased.

Comparative analisys of three different diagnostic methods to evaluate carious activity in a community basis

The present research has made a comparison between three distinct methods to evaluate carious activity in a community basis. The studied method was based in a modified DMFS/dmfs index including non-cavitated lesions. Two factors were analyzed: the possible reproduction of the inclusion of carious activity criteria and the presence of bacterial plaque. Thus, the three study groups presented with plaque, after supervised self-performed plaque removal with dental toothbrush and without plaque after professional prophylaxis, which corresponded to three diagnostic methods. The three exams took place one week apart from each other. For this analysis, a modified DMFS/dmfs index was proposed with alterations in diagnostic criteria due to the inclusion of carious activity parameters. The study was performed in a group of 30 children aged 11 years old. According to the results, the diagnostic method for carious activity in the three situations was reproducible and can be considered a proper approach to perform caries diagnosis in a community basis.