Joseph A. Bartoloni

Maternal acculturation: could it impact oral health practices of mexican-american mothers and their children?

A mother’s cultural beliefs can affect her infant’s health, but the influence of acculturation of Mexican-American women on their young children’s oral health is unknown. The authors hypothesized that maternal acculturation impacts very young children’s oral health practices favoring, in particular, the mothers who are more Anglo-oriented. A convenience sample of 204 predominantly Mexican-American women attending the Women, Infants, and Children Clinic in San Antonio, Texas, completed the Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, Social Support, and Self-Efficacy of Oral Health (KASE-OH) and Acculturation Questionnaires. Results indicated that mothers with strong Anglo orientation were more likely educated in the United States, first visited a dentist while in elementary school, and breast-fed their children. Children belonging to Anglo-oriented Mexican-American mothers had stronger oral health practices, were more likely to breast-feed, were exposed to more sugary and acidic drinks, consumed higher levels of candy, had Medicaid coverage, and had stronger supervisions of tooth brushing practices.

Comparison of In-Office Dental Unit Waterline Test Kits

The authors conducted a study to determine the validity of two commercially available in-office dental unit waterline test kits compared to the gold standard, R2A agar. Samples were collected from the air/water syringes of dental units and cultured on HPC Samplers, Petrifilm AC Plates, and R2A agar plates. HPC Samplers and R2A agar plates were incubated for 7 days and counted manually using magnification. Petrifilm AC Plates were counted after incubation time of 5 and 7 days using an electronic-plate reader. Validity measurements were calculated using a cutoff value < or = 500 colony-forming units per milliliter. The accuracy for the HPC Sampler compared to R2A agar was 71%. The accuracy for the Petrifilm AC Plates at 5 and 7 days was 79% and 87% compared to R2A agar. The Petrifilm AC Plate (7-day incubation) demonstrated higher sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy than the HPC Sampler kit.

Retrospective Analysis of Dental Implants Among United States Air Force Basic Military Trainees

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of dental implants among the Air Force basic military trainees and to radiographically identify the type of dental implant systems. METHODS All digital panoramic radiographic images acquired from Oct 1, 2006 through July 31, 2007 of newly recruited Air Force trainees were evaluated for evidence of dental implants. The following data were collected: total number of implants per radiograph, gender and age of subjects, implant location, type of implant retention method, and restorative implant status. The implants identified were categorized as Nobel Biocare/3i type or non-Nobel Biocare/3i type. RESULTS A total of 47 radiographs were identified with 63 dental implants being detected out of 26,293 panoramic radiographs surveyed. Of the 63 identified dental implants, 34 were Nobel Biocare/3i type and 29 were non-Nobel Biocare/3i type. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of dental implants among Air Force basic military trainees was 0.24% with 54% of the implants being identified as Nobel Biocare/3i type.