Dental caries is a bacterial infective disease modified by carbohydrates from food. Early childhood caries is a special type of primary teeth caries in infants and toddlers. Appearance of early childhood caries (ECC) is related to mistakes in nutrition of infants, but the mechanism of beginning and progression of this disease is very complex. To understand etiology of caries, it is necessary to understand ecology of oral environment and to determine which factors are responsible for conversion of non-pathogenic microorganisms of the oral cavity into pathogenic. Among host factors, salivary immunoglobulin (sIgA) constitutes the main specific immune defense mechanism in saliva and may play an important role in the oral homeostasis. Basic role of salivary immunoglobulins is in control of bacterial oral flora and constitution of balance relationship between oral bacteria and organism as whole

Background/Aim. Dental education has developed over the years, and various technologies have been included. Considering the fact that mobile devices are an imperative of modern time, the aim of our research was to evaluate effectiveness of Mobile-Aided Learning on practical administering the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). Methods. This prospective study involved 34 students who were randomly divided into two groups: G1 (control) group with 16 students and G2 (study) group with 18 students. Students of both groups previously successfully completed theoretical and practical training provided by the curriculum. For the purpose of additional education, students of the G2 group used a mobile application for 3D simulation of local anesthesia (Mobile-Aided Learning) outside the dental office for a period of one semester. After that, all students completed a post-clinical questionnaire. Results. The average time for performing anesthesia by participants in the G1 group was 70.54 ? 20.16 seconds, while in the G2 group it was 57.13 ? 17.45 seconds, which was significantly shorter (p ? 0.05). A successful anesthesia application was higher in the G2 group (83.3%) compared to the G1 group (75%). The results of the post-clinical test questionnaire also indicated difference in the mean values of the responses to all questions, which was in favor of the G2 group participants. Conclusion. Application of Mobile-Aided Learning showed a significantly higher efficiency in student education for practical implementation of the IANB.

Background Besides classical and electrical toothbrushes market offers tooth brushes that can be chewed, like chewing gums. The aim of this study was to show the effectiveness of chewable toothbrush versus a conventional brush in the students’ population. Methods The prospective study included 346 students. For this research, we used a e-questionnaire for “smart” phones, that students completed outside the dental office. Respondents are divided into two groups: control group used conventional toothbrushes, respondents from the tested group used chewable toothbrush. For assessment of accumulation of the plaque we used TQHI index. For testing statistical hypotheses, the following were used: t-test for two independent samples and analysis of the variance of repeated measurements. Results Before brushing teeth, the average TQHI value for chewable brushes is 2.8 ± 0.3, while conventional is 2.7 ± 0.3, which is not a statistically significant difference ( p = 0.448). After brushing teeth, the average TQHI value for chewable brushes is 2.0 ± 0.1, while conventional 2.0 ± 0.3, which is also not statistically significant ( p = 0.729). Observing the index of the plaque values on the tooth surfaces in the upper jaw, in both groups, there was a statistically significant change in the amount of plaque in time ( p < 0.001). There is a statistically significant interaction between groups and changes in the amount of plaque in the observed period ( p = 0.013). Conclusions The fact that there is no significant difference in the effectiveness of the tested brushes indicates the benefits of using chewable toothbrushes in order to reduce plaque, primarily in the inability to use conventional brushes.

Calcium ions intensity depletion identified in tooth cementum of a patient with six documented full-term pregnancies, using ToF-SIMS.