The purpose of this study was to associate oral hygiene frequency and presence of visible biofilm in the primary dentition. The sample consisted of 90 children, aged up to 4 years old, outpatients of the University Hospital of the Rio de Janeiro State University. The examinations were carried out in a dental office by a single trained examiner who was aided by an assistant. The parents answered a structured questionnaire about oral hygiene methods and frequency. Two biofilm indices, one simplified (BF1) and the other conventional (BF2), were used. BF1 classifies biofilm as absent, thin or thick, in anterior and/or posterior teeth, and provides a score for the patient, whereas BF2 classifies biofilm as absent or present, provides scores for three surfaces of each tooth and the final score is the percentage of tooth surfaces with biofilm. More than half of the parents (51 - 56.7%) reported they cleaned their child's teeth at least twice a day, while 7 (7.8%) had never cleaned their child's teeth. BF1 revealed that 12.2% (11) of the children had no visible biofilm, 37.8% (34) had thin biofilm in anterior and/or posterior teeth, 27.8% (25) had thick biofilm in anterior or posterior teeth and 22.2% (20) had thick biofilm in both anterior and posterior teeth. BF2 revealed a mean value of 21.8% (s.d. 16.5). No statistically significant correlations were found between oral hygiene frequency and the two biofilm indices (p > 0.05), indicating that oral hygiene frequency was not associated to oral hygiene quality in the evaluated sample.

This study assessed the interexaminer and intra-examiner reliability of the Nyvad caries classification system in primary teeth and calculated the mean examination time. The criteria were based on visual and tactile examinations to differentiate active and inactive lesions at cavitated and non-cavitated levels. Eighty children (3-7 yr of age) were examined under standardized conditions by calibrated examiners. At the tooth surface level, reliability was expressed as percentage agreement and kappa coefficient, using four diagnostic thresholds: sound vs. diseased; sound or inactive lesion vs. active lesion; intact surface vs. surface discontinuity; and sound or non-cavitated lesion vs. cavitated lesion. Interexaminer and intra-examiner kappa values were, respectively: 0.82/0.86; 0.80/0.86; 0.90/0.94; and 0.95/0.98. At the individual level, reliability of estimates of the caries prevalence and of the decayed or filled surface (dfs) counts were assessed at three diagnostic thresholds: sound vs. diseased; sound or inactive lesion vs. active lesion; and sound or non-cavitated lesion vs. cavitated lesion. For caries prevalence, interexaminer and intra-examiner kappa values were, respectively: 0.84/0.94; 0.69/0.74; and 0.95/0.97. The mean examination time was 226.5s (SD = 128.5). The use of the Nyvad caries diagnostic criteria in primary teeth showed reliable results. The examination time was acceptable.

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of chemochemical methods (Carisolv™ and Papacárie®) versus the manual method (excavators) in reducing the cariogenic microbiota in dentine caries of primary teeth. Forty-six healthy children (5 to 9 years old) having at least one primary tooth with a cavitated dentine carious lesion were included in the study. The teeth presented no clinical or radiographic signs of pulpal involvement. The sample of 74 teeth was randomly divided into three different groups: Papacárie® (n = 25), Carisolv™ (n = 27) and Manual (n = 22). Samples of carious and sound dentine were collected with sterile excavators before and after caries removal in the three groups. The dentine samples were transferred to glass tubes containing a 1mL thioglycollate medium used as a carrier and enriched for microbiological detection of mutans streptococci and Lactobacillus spp, after incubation for 6h at room temperature. The minimum detection value for colony forming units (CFU) was 3.3 x 102 CFU/ml, and the results were converted into scores from 0 to 4. A significant difference was observed in relation to the microbiological scores before and after caries removal for all methods (Wilcoxon test; p < 0.001). The use of chemomechanical methods for caries removal did not improve the reduction of cariogenic microorganisms in dentine caries lesions, in comparison with manual excavation.

ResumoO objetivo deste ensaio clínico foi avaliar o efeito adicional do verniz fluoretado sobre a inativação de lesões iniciais de cárie em dentes decíduos submetidos a 6 sessões de escovação profissional com dentifrício fluoretado. Critério de inclusão: mancha branca ativa (MBA) na face vestibular de incisivo/canino decíduo superior. Participaram 12 crianças (9 a 48 meses de idade), totalizando 29 MBA. As crianças foram alocadas aleatoriamente em 2 grupos: sem verniz fluoretado (SF) e com verniz fluoretado (CF). Ambos receberam 6 sessões de escovação dentária profissional com dentifrício fluoretado com intervalo médio de 1,2 semanas. O grupo CF recebeu aplicação de verniz fluoretado após cada escovação. Um único examinador cego, calibrado para cárie dentária (k=0,71) e biofilme dental (BF) (k=0,71) e treinado para sangramento gengival (SG), avaliou os dentes em: baseline, intermediário e final. Os dados foram analisados no SPSS, utilizando os testes χ2 e exato de Fisher. Ao final, 22 (5,7%) lesões foram consideradas inativas e não houve diferença entre os grupos (p=0,295). A combinação dos dados de BF e SG originou o padrão de higiene da superfície dentária (PHD) que esteve associado à inativação das lesões (p=0,010). Clinicamente, não se observou efeito adicional do verniz fluoretado na inativação das lesões de cárie. Esta esteve associada à melhora do PHD, uma vez que a maior proporção de inativação ocorreu dentre as superfícies que apresentaram melhor qualidade de higiene.

Background: This paper aims to describe a case report about dentigerous cysts related to trauma in the primary teeth.Case report: An eight-year-old boy attended the Pediatric Dental Trauma Clinic. He had a delay in the eruption of the tooth 11 and when he was four years old suffered a trauma in the tooth 51. The radiograph showed a dentigerous cyst involving the tooth 11. The lesion was treated through enucleation and the permanent tooth erupted. Conclusions:A correlation was observed between the dentigerous cyst, trauma in the deciduous incisor and the successor teeth. Early diagnoses as well as clinical and radiographic follow-ups of traumatized primary teeth are important to minimize possible sequelae in the successor teeth.