Background: Severe early childhood caries is the most important dental problem among children younger than three years of age. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between time and manner of weaning and severe early childhood caries (S-ECC). Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed in Kerman, Iran, in 2020. The study population consisted of 130 mothers and their children aged 18 to 30 months with and without S-ECC who visited the health centers in Kerman. Clinical examinations of the children's teeth were carried out with a dental mirror by a trained dentist after drying the surfaces of the maxillary incisors. The presence or absence of S-ECC was marked in a relevant checklist. Then, the mothers were asked to answer questions about the way they feed their children and the weaning method used in case of weaning off their children. Finally, data was analyzed using t-test in SPSS version 16.
Results:The mean age of the children was 24.4±4.7 months, and 52% of them were girls. Most of the mothers had used the traditional methods to wean their children. The mean age at weaning was 23.8 months. There was a significant relationship between the age at which the child was weaned and S-ECC. In other words, children with S-ECC were significantly older at weaning than those children without S-ECC (p<0.05).
Conclusion:Children with S-ECC had a longer breastfeeding period than children without S-ECC; thus, it seems that one of the reasons for the high prevalence of such caries in children in Kerman could be the longer period of breastfeeding or bottle-feeding. Therefore, an appropriate pattern of breastfeeding is effective in preventing S-ECC.
Objective: To assess the level of moral skills in dental students and residents. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted on dental students and residents of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, selected by census sampling. Data collection tools included a demographic information checklist (age, gender, marital status, educational level (before basic sciences, after and multiple regression analysis at a confidence level of 95%. Results: The total score of the moral skills questionnaire was about 44 out of 80, and there was no difference between males and females in moral skills (p=0.79). However, there was a significant difference in moral sensitivity between married and single students (p=0.036). Residents gained significantly higher moral integrity scores than students (p=0.046).
Conclusion:The study highlights that the level of professional moral skills in Kerman dental students and residents was acceptable. Single students got higher scores in the moral sensitivity domain, although residents got the highest scores in the moral integrity domain. There was no significant correlation between gender and the level of moral skills.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of laughter therapy on reducing anxiety and pain during dental procedures in children 5-7 years of age. Material and Methods: 48 children aged 5-7 years were included in this cross-over double-blinded clinical trial after the parents completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorder questionnaire (SCARED). After allocation into two groups: laughter intervention (A) and neutral intervention (B), the anxiety as well as pain were determined by Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale Faces questionnaire (MCDASF) and the Wong-Baker Faces Scale, respectively. Also, the child's behavior during the treatment was recorded using the Sound, Eye, Motor scale (SEM). Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 using Paired t-test, Independent t-test, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon's test.
Results:The mean score of anxiety in the laughter intervention group (17.42±2.74) was significantly less than (22.06±2.16) in the neutral intervention group (p=0.000) and lower in boys in both groups (p=0.000, p=0.047). The mean pain severity reported by the children in the neutral intervention group (5.33±1.81) was higher than in the laughter intervention group (2.38±1.87; p=0.00) and higher in girls in both groups (p=0.02; p=0.03). Conclusion: The laughter intervention before dental procedures had a significant effect on reducing anxiety and pain during dental treatment.
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