Dental caries (decay) is an international public health challenge, especially amongst young children. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a serious public health problem in both developing and industrialized countries. ECC can begin early in life, progresses rapidly in those who are at high risk, and often goes untreated. Its consequences can affect the immediate and long-term quality of life of the child's family and can have significant social and economic consequences beyond the immediate family as well. ECC can be a particularly virulent form of caries, beginning soon after dental eruption, developing on smooth surfaces, progressing rapidly, and having a lasting detrimental impact on the dentition. Children experiencing caries as infants or toddlers have a much greater probability of subsequent caries in both the primary and permanent dentitions. The relationship between breastfeeding and ECC is likely to be complex and confounded by many biological variables, such as mutans streptococci, enamel hypoplasia, intake of sugars, as well as social variables, such as parental education and socioeconomic status, which may affect oral health. Unlike other infectious diseases, tooth decay is not self-limiting. Decayed teeth require professional treatment to remove infection and restore tooth function. In this review, we give detailed information about ECC, from its diagnosis to management.

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ObjectivesTo assess the incidence of postoperative pain after single- and multi-visit endodontic treatment of teeth with vital and non-vital pulp.MethodsIn total, 306 patients with teeth requiring endodontic treatment were identified and were included in this study. Two experienced clinicians treated the patients, who were randomly assigned to two groups. While the teeth of patients in group 1 were obturated, group 2 were temporarily sealed and obturated after one week. Three days after the root canal instrumentation of each tooth, the patients were asked whether they experienced any postoperative pain and to rate the level of discomfort as no, mild, moderate, or severe pain. Data were analyzed statistically using the chi-square test.ResultsNo significant difference in postoperative pain was found between vital and non-vital teeth (P>.01). Mild, moderate, and severe pain occurred in 31.4, 13.7, and 4.6% of vital teeth, respectively. Postoperative pain occurred in 107 (69.9%) and 106 (69.3%) teeth in the single- and multi-visit treatment groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in postoperative pain between the two groups (P>.01).ConclusionsThe prevalence of postoperative pain did not differ between vital and non-vital teeth. The majority of patients in either groups reported no or only mild pain.

Our results suggest that a combination of Ca(OH)(2) and 1% CHX can be successfully used as intracanal medicament for disinfection in endodontic retreatment cases with periapical lesions.

Objectives: The aims of this cross-sectional study were to evaluate the level of fear of dental procedures among schoolchildren and assess the relationship between caries experience and fear of dental procedures. Subjects and Methods: 275 children aged 7–11 years were recruited for the study. Before conducting a dental examination, each subject was asked to independently complete a Children’s Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) questionnaire. Children having a score of ≥38 were included in the group ‘with dental fear’ while those scoring <38 were placed in the ‘without dental fear’ group. All dental examinations were performed on the school premises according to WHO criteria. Results: Mean CFSS-DS value was 28.1, and the number of children who experienced dental fear was 40 (14.5%). It was found that Decayed, Missing and Filled Surface Index (DMFS-dfs) increased significantly with increasing CFSS-DS values. Fear scores were highest for ‘Choking’ (3.3), ‘Injections’ (2.6) and ‘Having somebody put instruments in their mouth’ (2.6). No significant differences in fear scores between boys and girls were found in this study. Conclusions: The data showed prevalence of dental fear in the 7–11-year-old children of this study. Dental fear scores decreased with increasing age.

Objective:Early childhood caries (ECC) is a particularly destructive form of tooth decay that afflicts young children. The etiology and associated factors of ECC should be studied adequately to overcome this health hazard. The aim of this study was to determine caries prevalence and its consequences in toddlers in an Anatolian city, Kırıkkale.Materials and Methods:Examinations were performed in family medicine centers by three calibrated dentists during a period of 6 months. The status of dental caries was recorded according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. We recorded the clinical indexes of decayed, missed, and filled teeth (DMFT and dmft; upper-case letters refer to permanent and lower-case letters to primary teeth), and decayed, missed, and filled surfaces (DMFS).Results:Totally 3171 toddlers were included (52% males and 48% females). The mean age was 25.8 ± 10.1 months. The prevalence of ECC in preschool children was 17.3%, while the mean df(t) was 0.63 ± 1.79. ECC increased significantly with age. Dental caries were mostly observed in primary maxillary central teeth. Occlusal and buccal surfaces were the most affected sites. The difference in distribution of caries between maxilla and mandibula was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusions:When compared to other data obtained from various epidemiologic studies, the toddlers living in Kırıkkale city center had a significant caries level. This observation had clearly suggested that early preventive measures should urgently be put into effect all over the city.

Objective:The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical performance of high-strength glass ionomer cement (HSGIC) and resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGIC) in single and multiple surface carious cavities in the field conditions.Material and Methods:A split-mouth design, including ninety-one fillings placed on contra lateral molar pairs of 37 children, was used in permanent dentition. As filling materials, a HSGIC (Ketac Molar/3M ESPE) and a RMGIC (Vitremer/ 3M ESPE) were used with the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). Baseline and 6, 12 and 24-month evaluations of the fillings were made with standard-ART and USPHS criteria by two examiners with kappa values of 0.92 and 0.87 for both criteria.Results:According to the USPHS criteria, the retention rates of RMGIC and HSGIC restorations were 100% and 80.9% for single surface, and 100% and 41.2% for multiple surface restorations after 24 months, respectively. Irrespective of surface number, RMGIC was significantly superior to HSGIC (p= 0.004), according to both standard-ART and USPHS criteria.Conclusion:The results indicate that RMGIC may be an alternative restorative technique in comparison to high-strength GIC applications in ART-field-trials. However, further clinical and field trials are needed to support this conclusion.

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