Fábio Duarte da Costa Aznar

Association between dental caries activity, quality of life and obesity in Brazilian adolescents

OBJECTIVES The impact of oral conditions on quality of life in overweight/obesity needs to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between dental caries activity, quality of life and obesity in Brazilian adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted at public schools in Brazil, on a sample of 202 adolescents, 12 years of age. For anthropometric evaluation, the body mass index (BMI)-for-age was used. In oral examinations, the Decayed, Missing, Filled teeth (DMFT), significant caries (SiC) and dental caries activity (DCA) indices were used (κ > 0.94). The Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP) index was applied. The sample was divided into two groups: O (overweight/obese; n = 101) and N (normal weight; n = 101). For data analysis, chi-square, odds ratio (OR), Wilcoxon and Pearson correlation tests were used (P < 0.05). RESULTS The DMFT scores were 1.67 and 2.12 and the SiC scores were 3.85 and 4.26 for groups O and N, respectively. BMI-for-age was significantly related to DCA (OR = 0.579; P < 0.000) and to SiC (OR = 0.649; P = 0.024). There were differences between the groups in eating, cleaning mouth, emotional status, smiling, studying and the overall Child-OIDP (P < 0.05). Positive associations between the impacts on eating, cleaning mouth and smiling were found (P < 0.05). DMFT values showed significant correlation with the emotional status performance in group O and the DCA was positively correlated with performance at school in group O (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Obesity, dental caries and quality of life were not correlated. Adolescents with normal weight presented a low perception of the impact of oral conditions on quality of life; however, it seemed to affect psychological aspects in their daily performances. Providing adolescents with nutritional assistance may prevent obesity and dental caries, and improve their quality of life.

Assessment of the effects of decontamination and storage methods on the structural integrity of human enamel

Introducao O armazenamento de dentes para utilizacao em pesquisas e uma questao controversia e nao ha consenso sobre o metodo de tratamento mais apropriado para esta finalidade. Objetivo O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a efetividade e a influencia de diferentes metodos de descontaminacao e armazenamento do esmalte dentario humano, a fim de manter sua integridade. Material e metodo A amostra foi constituida por 124 molares distribuidos aleatoriamente em tres grupos, de acordo com o metodo: controle – agua destilada, solucoes de timol a 0,1% e de azida de sodio a 0,02%. Os testes realizados foram fluorescencia a laser, microdureza de superficie e analise de perfilometria (0, 15 e 30 dias) e teste microbiologico (7, 15 e 30 dias). Os dados foram analisados por meio dos testes ANOVA e Tukey (p<0,05). Resultado No teste de fluorescencia a laser, a solucao de timol a 0,1% demonstrou ser mais viavel na manutencao da integridade do orgao dentario, uma vez que este nao apresentou variacoes significativas nos valores entre os periodos avaliados (p<0,05). A analise de microdureza de superficie evidenciou perda de estrutura dentaria em todos os metodos, sendo que a azida de sodio promoveu menor perda dentaria. Na analise de perfilometria observou-se perda de estrutura em todos os grupos, com maior perda no grupo azida de sodio. Nenhum dos metodos conseguiu inibir o crescimento bacteriano. Conclusao: Dentre os metodos de processamento analisados nenhum foi capaz de aliar a efetividade na descontaminacao ao armazenamento com manutencao da integridade estrutural do esmalte dentario humano.