BackgroundGlobally, oral diseases contribute to major disease problems and oral health disparities persistently exist amongst vulnerable population groups. Two contributory factors to these challenges are the shortage of dental practitioners and the characteristic separation between the medical and dental professions. Nurses and midwives, in particular, are in a potentially excellent position to assist in basic oral health services such as dental health education and intraoral screening. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of integrating promotion of oral health of young children and their mothers into nursing and midwifery practice.Methods and FindingsSeven electronic databases including CENTRAL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, GLOBAL HEALTH, CINHAL, Scopus, and Web of Science were systematically searched whereas conference proceedings and theses were retrieved via PROQUEST. Only randomized, non-randomized trials and observational studies on preventive oral health programs delivered by nurses or midwives in healthcare settings or through home visits were included. Two investigators reviewed full-text articles independently to decide on eligibility for inclusion. Quality assessment was done using Cochrane tool for risk of bias for randomized trials and Downs and Black assessment tool for all other studies. Out of 3162 retrieved records, twenty one trials on oral health interventions incorporated into standard nursing practice were reviewed. Eighteen programs reported significant positive outcomes including reduction in caries experience, better oral hygiene and dietary habits and increased rates of dental visits amongst young children as reported by their caregivers.ConclusionsIncorporating oral health promotion into nursing practice is a promising initiative for reducing oral health disparities by contributing to a downward trend in caries experience and increased access to dental care especially amongst the poor disadvantaged communities.

Purpose Worldwide, in the last decade, the numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have drastically decreased. Despite that, around 18 million infected individuals receive antiretroviral therapy and thus tend to live longer. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the level of HIV-related knowledge among undergraduate dental students at Ain Shams University (ASU) in Cairo, Egypt and to determine their attitudes toward treating HIV-positive patients. Methods The study sample included 247 undergraduate dental students of third, fourth, and fifth academic years at the Faculty of Dentistry, ASU who were randomly selected to participate in this survey. Data were collected using a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire. Chi square and ANOVA tests were used to measure differences in the level of knowledge and attitudes among students of the 3 years. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed with 95% confidence interval. Results Within the students’ population, around 94% incorrectly considered dentists to be at high risk of acquiring HIV infection and 47% believed that saliva is a vehicle for its transmission. Moreover, the majority of students were unaware of the association between HIV and common oral manifestations such as oral candida, Kaposi sarcoma, and leukoplakia. Although 69% of the students were willing to deliver oral care to people living with HIV (PLHIV), only 33% perceived themselves knowledgeable enough to do so. Conclusion Dental students were not adequately prepared to recognize and manage HIV-positive individuals. Thus, better education and training are required to raise their levels of HIV-related knowledge and enhance their capabilities to treat PLHIV.

Background This study aimed to assess the association between iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and dental caries in early childhood. Methods A total of 40 children with proven IDA and another 40 healthy age and sex‐matched children were enrolled in this cross‐sectional study. Legal guardians were interviewed to collect data on oral hygiene measures and dietary habits. Anthropometric measurements were performed for all participants, and blood samples were collected to assess complete blood count and body iron status. Patients were confirmed to have IDA based on haemoglobin level (Hb), red blood cells indices and body iron status. Caries experience was determined based on the number of decayed, missing and filled primary teeth using dmft index. Results A statistically significant negative correlation between dmft index scores and haemoglobin level (r = −0.454, P < 0.001) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) level (r = −0.380, P = 0.001) was detected, and in accordance there was a positive statistically significant correlation between caries experience and the presence of anaemia (r = −0.60, P < 0.001). Conclusion In early childhood, dental caries might coexist with IDA even in its mildest form. All children exhibiting severe early childhood caries should be investigated for IDA and anaemia should be managed if present.

Background Epileptic children are liable to experience oral health problems either due to the disease itself or medications administered to control the condition. Aim We aimed to investigate caries experience, gingival health and oro‐facial traumatic injuries in a sample of epileptic Egyptian children. Design A retrospective cohort study was conducted from September 2016 to April 2017 using data from medical records in Children Hospital at Ain Shams University. Dental examination was performed for 100 epileptic children and 80 healthy subjects who matched in age, gender, and socio‐economic status. Caries experience was measured using the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT or dmft) index and gingival index (GI) of Loe and Sillness was used to determine gingival health status. Oro‐facial injuries were assessed using the WHO classification of trauma. Quantitative data were presented as mean, SD, and 95% CI values. Qualitative data were presented as frequencies and percentages and the significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results The mean ± SD GI for epileptic children was significantly higher (1.16 ± 0.42) than that of healthy children. (1.01 ± 0.11) Healthy subjects had significantly lower mean dmf index scores 2.2 ± 2.6 compared to epileptic subjects where mean dmf scores were 4.1 ± 2.1. No significant difference, however, was detected between the two groups regarding caries experience in permanent dentition or incidence of oro‐facial injuries. Conclusions Epileptic children are highly burdened with gingival problems and liable to develop dental caries especially in primary dentition. Oral traumatic injuries, however, are not common complications if seizure attacks are well controlled.