The study results indicate that sending appointment reminders as text messages to patients is an effective strategy to reduce nonattendance rates.

Introduction: With advancement in diagnostic techniques, the utilization of radiologic examination has risen to many folds in the last two decades. Ionizing radiations from the radiographic examination carry the potential for harm by inducing carcinogenesis in addition to the diagnostic information extracted. Radiation doses utilized in the course of dental treatment might be low for individual examinations but patients are exposed to repeated examinations very often and many people are exposed during the course of dental care. Therefore, principles of radiation protection and safety are necessary for the dentists to follow to ensure minimum and inevitable exposure. Aim:The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and behaviour of general dentists practicing in the National Capital Region (NCR) regarding radiation safety during oral radiographic procedures. Materials and Methods:The study was a questionnaire based cross-sectional study. A total of 500 general dentists were contacted to participate in the study. The target population entailed of general dentists practicing in the National Capital Region. Data was computed and tabulated in Microsoft excel sheet and statistical analysis was performed with the help of SPSS version 21.0. Results:The total response rate recovered was 70.6% and the respondents comprised of 59% and 41% males & females respectively. Only 64.8% of the general dentists contemplated thyroid to be the most important organ for radiation protection. Only 28.8% of the general dentists followed the position & distance rule appropriately. Conclusion:The results showed that the knowledge and behaviour of the general dentists and the practices adopted by them regarding radiation safety is not satisfactory. To ensure the following of basic and necessary guidelines for radiation safety and protection, strict rules with penalties should be implemented by the state councils and new and interesting methods of education for this spectrum of the field should be introduced.

The study participants exhibited poor knowledge and attitude towards their child's oral heath which was leading to the adoption of poor oral health practices by these mothers. Thus, to improve the oral health of children, appropriate practices and measures should be promoted among their parents/guardians.

Background: The work force in industries are at risk of developing unduly high rates of health and behaviour related problems including abuse of alcohol, betel nut and cigarette (alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption). This study describes the relationships between alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption and health promoting behaviour among industrial workers. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted on workers in various industries of Ghaziabad city with concerned authority permission. A sample size of 732 workers was calculated based on pilot study. Through Simple random sampling 732 workers in 20 to 50 years age group with informed consent were interviewed through structured, pretested, validated questionnaire in vernacular language by one calibrated investigator. Data on socio demography, alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption pattern and health behaviour were collected. The association between health promoting behaviour and alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption was analysed by Logistic regression and Chi-square test through SPSS 16 at p<0.05 and 95%CI as significant. Results: Total prevalence of alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption in study population was 88%. The prevalence of individual alcohol, betel nut and cigarette consumption were 82%, 68% and 79% respectively. Combined alcohol, betel nut and cigarette prevalence in study population was 58%. Alcohol and cigarette users were significantly higher (p<0.001) in 30 to 40 years age group with lower level of education having poor attitude towards health promoting behaviour, poor oral hygiene practices and rare indulgence in regular physical exercise. Conclusions: This study stimulate further research on exploring methods to prevent initiation of health risk behaviour and promote healthy behaviour with cessation help for the current alcohol, betel nut and cigarette users.

Dental caries is a common dental public health problem significantly found in both developed and developing countries. It is a dental disease which affects all ages but is particularly found in children. The study aimed to assess the caries prevalence and oral hygiene status in 7-12 years old school children of rural and urban areas of Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in school children who aged 7-12 years from rural and urban areas of Gautam Budh Nagar. A sample of 1003 school children was done by 2 stage cluster sampling technique. School children who aged 7-9 years were included in Group I, whereas 10-12 years included in Group II. Examination of dental caries and oral hygiene status was done by the WHO proforma 2013. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of dental caries was 69.8% and 51.9% in the age group of 7-9 and 10-12 years, respectively. Mean decayed/missing/filled teeth were higher among urban school children as compared to rural school children and mean oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S) was more in rural school children as compared to urban school children. Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries in urban school children was higher than rural school children with good oral hygiene. Oral health education and promotion should be done in regular intervals for creating awareness.

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