AimTo determine the prevalence of apical periodontitis and assess the quality of endodontic fillings in the population of the city of Zagreb, Croatia.MethodsA total of 1462 orthopantomograms from new patients at 6 different dental practices was analyzed during 2006 and 2007. The presence of periapical lesions was determined by using the periapical index score (PAI). The quality of endodontic fillings was assessed according to the filling length and homogeinicity. Data were analyzed using t test and ANOVA with Scheffe post-hoc test.ResultsThere were 75.9% of participants with endodontically treated teeth and 8.5% of all teeth were endodontically treated. Only 34.2% of endodontically treated roots had adequate root canal filling length, while 36.2% of root canal fillings had homogenous appearance. From the total number of teeth with intracanal post, 17.5% had no visible root canal filling. Using PAI 3 as a threshold value for apical periodontitis, periapical lesions were detected in 8.5% of teeth. Adequate quality of root canal fillings was associated with a lower prevalence of periapical lesions.ConclusionWe found a large proportion of endodontically treated teeth with apical periodontitis and a correlation between the quality of endodontic filling and the prevalence of periapical lesions. This all suggests that it is necessary to improve the quality of endodontic treatment in order to reduce the incidence and prevalence of apical periodontitis.

The examined subjects prescribe antibiotics according to the curriculum taught at the School of Dental Medicine for majority of types, doses and duration of the treatments, although antibiotics over-prescription in cases without medical indication was observed. The national guidelines on antibiotic regimens are required in order to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.

SUMMARY -Th e purpose of the research was to compare oral health behavior and plaque indices between Croatian fi rst-year and fi nal-year dental students. Th erefore, 46.9% of fi rst-year and 47% of fi nal-year dental students were surveyed using the Hiroshima University Dental Behavior Inventory (HU-DBI) questionnaire and had their plaque indices determined. Descriptive statistics analysis, nonparametric tests, and correlation analysis were performed (p<0.05). Sixth-year students had a signifi cantly better mean HU-DBI score (8.06) than fi rst-year students (6.45). Signifi cantly more fi rstyear students thought that they could not help having false teeth at their old age (p=0.007), had never been taught professionally how to brush (p=0.019), and used a toothbrush with hard bristles (p=0.001). Signifi cantly more fi nal-year students brushed each of their teeth carefully (p=0.008), thought they could clean their teeth well without using tooth paste (p=0.000), used a dye to see how clean their teeth were (p=0.002), and had their dentist telling them they brushed very well (p=0.028). Plaque index values were signifi cantly lower (p<0.05) among fi rst-year (7.94±0.72) than among fi nal-year (9.13±0.77) students. With advancement in dental training, oral health attitudes improved, but the level of dental students' oral hygiene decreased.

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Ovim istraživanjem in vitro željelo se utvrditi i usporediti razinu i dinamiku otpuštanja fluorida u trima najnovijim materijalima za ispune. Materijali i postupci: Otpuštanje fluorida mjerilo se u kompozitu GC Kalore, staklenom ionomernom cementu GC Equia i giomeru Shofu Beautifil II. Od svakog materijala pripremljeno je 20 diskova (promjera 8 mm, debljine 2 mm). Mjerenje se obavljalo 10 tjedana ion-selektivnom elektrodom (ORION EA 940). Za statističku obradu dobivenih rezultata odabrana je metoda linerane regresije. Rezultati: Kompozit GC Kalore otpustio je 1,29 ppm Ftijekom 10 tjedana ispitivanja. Otpuštanje fluorida smanjilo se i nakon četiri tjedna više se nije moglo izmjeriti ion-selektivnom elektrodom. Stakleni ionomerni cement GC Equia otpustio je najviše fluoridnih iona (24,512 ppm F-) i to u prva 24 sata (6,851 mgF-/L). Giomer Shofu Beautifil II otpustio je 4,685 ppm F-. Zaključak: Ispitivani giomer otpustio je više fluorida od kompozitnog materijala i zato se može preporučiti kao materijal izbora za estetske ispune kod kojih je važan i preventivni učinak na karijes. Ključne riječi kompozitne smole; stakleno-ionomerni cementi; fluoridi; giomer