Indian Journal of Dental Education

Background & Objective: Presently there are internationally prevailing competency statements for Public Health Dentistry and it would be important to know how the activities of public health dentistry departments in India are matching with these competencies. Hence, the present study was conducted with an aim to assess the activities carried out in the Departments of Public Health Dentistry of different dental colleges across India, as per the competency document for public health dentistry stated in a similar survey by Mascarenhas AK and Altman D.2 Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among the post-graduate students of department of Public health Dentistry studying in India. Evaluation of competency statement was assessed by the questionnaire administered through Google form via E-mail & whatsapp. The questionnaire was developed from the article by Mascarenhas AK2 with necessary changes to suit the requirements of the study. Results: 47 students belonging to 41 dental colleges across India responded to the survey. The most followed competency among the students was Communicating on oral and public health issues, conducting research, planning & implementing oral health program with 79%, 77% & 62% respectively. The least followed competency was advocating for oral health policy with 40%. The major domain of oral health programs implemented by the department were health education programs followed by preventive & treatment programs with 62%, 23%, & 9% respectively. Conclusion: The competencies which require additional attention are, advocating for oral health policy, ethical decision making in practice of Dental Public Health, evaluating health care delivery system and integrating social determinants of health into oral health.

Background: There is a lengthy and contentious history of the connection between respiratory function and the development of occlusal and craniofacial morphology. Mouth-breathing influences skeletal growth and thereby affect the cephalometric parameters. The present study aimed to determine the YEN angle in children with mouth breathing habit having Class I occlusion. Aim: Determination of YEN angle in children with mouth breathing habit. Settings and Design: Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Mahe institute of dental sciences, Mahe. Prospective study. Methods: 48 children of age group 9-12 years with mouth-breathing habit having Class I malocclusion were selected. Water holding and butterfly test was used to confirm the diagnosis of the habit. Their lateral cephalograms were taken and the ANB angle, Wit’s assessment YEN angle was measured by manual methods. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the coefficient of variation statistical analysis were carried out with an alpha level of 5%. Results: The mean YEN angle in mouth breathers with Class I occlusion was 119.7±2.783°. The YEN angle showed a moderately negative correlation with the ANB angle, which was statistically significant (r=-0.31, p=0.03). Conclusion: From our study we found that the YEN angle is a homogenously distributed angular parameter that is highly predictable when utilized to evaluate sagittal discrepancy in patients with Class I occlusion having mouthbreathing habit.

The dental specialty of endodontics is primarily focused on treating conditions affecting the pulp and periradicular tissues. Physicians frequently deal with patients who present with a variety of symptoms. They also have to evaluate radiography pictures critically in two and three dimensions, make difficult diagnoses and decisions, and administer advanced treatment. In combination with inconsistent treatment outcomes due to non-standard clinical practices and low intra and interobserver agreement for radiographic interpretation, there is an unmet need for artificial intelligence (AI) to provide automated biomedical image analysis, decision support, and help during treatment. While there hasn’t been much clinical application of AI in endodontics during the last ten years, studies on the subject have steadily increased. In order to better understand endodontic diseases such periapical lesions, fractures, and resorptions, as well as to predict the outcomes of therapeutic treatments, this review critically evaluates the most recent developments in endodontic AI research. The advantages of AI-assisted diagnosis, treatment planning and implementation, and potential future developments in robotics and augmented reality are covered.

The advent of newer caries excavation technique has simplified the guidelines for cavity preparation enormously. The extent and shape of the caries lesion basically defines the design and extent of the present preparations, potentially slightly extended by bevelling the cavity margins in order to satisfy the fashionable concept of minimally invasive dentistry. New caries excavation techniques described by Ahmed AA et al., are introduced, like the utilization of plastic and ceramic burs, improved caries-disclosing dyes, enzymatic caries dissolving agents, caries-selective sono/air abrasion and laser ablation.1 They all aim to get rid of or help remove caries-infected tissue as selectively as possible, while being minimally invasive through maximum preservation of caries affected tissue. Each technique entails a selected caries-removal endpoint and produces residual dentin substrates of various natures and thus different receptiveness for adhesive procedures. New caries excavation techniques favor current situation of COVID-19 era since they are free of aerosol and infection control can be achieved.

Dental caries is the most predominant oral disease amongst children with intellectual disability and its treatment is the greatest unattended health need. The effective management of oral health care for dental patients with special needs requires multidimensional approach including physical, developmental, behavioural and emotional bintervention.