Oral hairy leukoplakia showed a positive relationship with patients younger than 35 years. Oral candidiasis can act as a marker for immunosuppression. Angular cheilitis was predominant in the symptomatic stage.

Aim:This study was conducted to test the null hypothesis that no difference exists in the oral hygiene knowledge and practices of university students in different courses when they have equal opportunity to access health-promotive dental care. Methods and Materials:The study was conducted using 120 students each from the medical and engineering colleges at the University of Manipal Academy of Higher Education who had easy access to the dental college within the campus which provides health-promotive dental care to all its patients. A self-administered structured questionnaire consisting of questions on demographic data, oral hygiene knowledge and practices, and dental service utilization patterns was distributed among the students. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS 10 version.Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to the knowledge of fluoridated toothpastes, frequency of toothbrush renewal, use of dental floss, and a tongue cleaner (p<0.001). The groups were similar in all other practices including the utilization of dental services. There were no significant differences between the self-reported oral hygiene knowledge and practices among medical and engineering university students, but the knowledge levels of the students were considerably lower than expected.

Objectives: The present study is designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of pregnant women and mothers about feeding habits and infant oral health.Materials and methods: A total of 230 study subjects were divided into two groups: Group A included pregnant women and group B were mothers of child up to 1 year of age. Each group comprised of 170 subjects. A self-administered questionnaire comprising of total 23 questions on infant feeding practices, nocturnal bottle feeding, correct age of eruption of first teeth and first dental visit. Two separate questionnaires were framed for both the groups.Results: There was a lack of knowledge among both the groups about infant feeding and weaning. Nocturnal bottle feeding was more prevalent.Conclusion: The present study reflects a need for maternal counseling on infant oral health.How to cite this article: Nagaraj A, Pareek S. Infant Oral Health Knowledge and Awareness: Disparity among Pregnant Women and Mothers visiting a Government Health Care Organization. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2012;5(3):167-172.

Introduction:The growing field of alternative medicine has shown that dentifrices based on plant extracts are available in the market but there is little or no research to prove or refute the efficacy of dentifrices containing combination of herbal components.Aim:The study was conducted to evaluate the anti-plaque efficacy of a commercially available Meswak containing dentifrice compared to the conventional dentifrice using a randomized, triple blind, parallel design method.Materials and Methods:A total of 350 subjects were selected. All the subjects (aged 13–54 years) were given the test dentifrices, packed in plain white color-coded tubes. The subjects were instructed to brush their teeth twice daily for 2 min with the allocated dentifrice. The total study duration was 4 weeks. Plaque scores were recorded at the baseline, 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively, using the Turesky modification of the Quigley Hein Plaque Index.Results:The results showed that there were significant differences in the reduction of plaque by the herbal dentifrice, Meswak (Salvadora persica) on intra-group and inter-group comparison.Conclusion:It was concluded that further research is required to know the dental benefits of herbal products being incorporated into the commercially available dentifrices.