Meghashyam Bhat

Oral health status and treatment needs of children attending special schools in South India: a comparative study

The aim of this study was to assess and compare oral health status and treatment needs of children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) between the ages of 5 and 15, with a matched group of healthy children, in Udupi District of South India. A cross-sectional study of 265 children with SHCN was compared to 310 healthy children to assess differences in periodontal status, dentition status, treatment needs, and dentofacial anomalies using the WHO criteria. Chi-square, t-test, and Z-tests were performed to compare different variables. p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A significantly higher prevalence of caries (89.1%), malocclusion, and poorer periodontal status was observed among children with SHCN compared to the healthy control group. Improving the oral health of these children will require maintaining good oral hygiene practices, which can be achieved with appropriate target-based oral health approaches.

Microbial Contamination of the White Coats of Dental Staff in the Clinical Setting

Background and aims Although wearing a white coat is an accepted part of medical and dental practice, it is a potential source of cross-infection. The objective of this study was to determine the level and type of microbial contamination present on the white coats of dental interns, graduate students and faculty in a dental clinic. Materials and methods Questionnaire and cross-sectional survey of the bacterial contamination of white coats in two predetermined areas (chest and pocket) on the white coats were done in a rural dental care center. Paired sample t-test and chi-square test were used for Statistical analysis. Results 60.8% of the participants reported washing their white coats once a week. Grading by the examiner revealed 15.7% dirty white coats. Also, 82.5% of the interns showed bacterial contamination of their white coats compared to 74.7% graduate students and 75% faculty members irrespective of the area examined. However, chest area was consistently a more bacterio-logically contaminated site as compared to the pocket area. Antibiotic sensitivity testing revealed resistant varieties of micro-organisms against Amoxicillin (60%), Erythromycin (42.5%) and Cotrimoxazole (35.2%). Conclusion The white coats seem to be a potential source of cross-infection in the dental setting. The bacterial contamina-tion carried by white coats, as demonstrated in this study, supports the ban on white coats from non-clinical areas.

Efficacy of pre-procedural rinsing in reducing aerosol contamination during dental procedures:

Our objective was to determine the efficacy of pre-procedural rinsing with chlorhexidine in reducing bacterial aerosol contamination during use of ultrasonic scaler and high speed air turbine handpiece. Twenty patients, ten each for the two groups who were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Four predesignated locations of the dental clinic were chosen to be evaluated for each patient using blood agar plates. Aerosols were collected during treatment procedures for control and experimental quadrants. Results showed that a regimen of 30-seconds pre-procedural rinsing with 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate before dental procedures consistently reduced colony-forming units than without rinsing due to the ability of antiseptic mouthwash to inhibit microbial growth. There was more aerosol contamination during scaling procedures than during the use of a high speed air turbine handpiece. The conclusion is that chlorhexidine is an effective primary measure in reducing aerosol cross-contamination when using dental devices in a dental set up.