Background & Objectives: Worldwide, 60 to 90% of school children have experienced dental caries with higher prevalence in Asian and Latin American countries and poor dental and oral health and untreated oral disease can have a significant impact on quality of life according to WHO report. The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of dental caries both in deciduous and permanent teeth and to compare total decayed, filled teeth surfaces among primary school children of Kathmandu from both government and private schools and to find the percentage of first permanent molars affected with dental caries.Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among two Government and two Private Primary School Children in Kathmandu district. Total sample were 468 children. Required permission were obtained from concerned authorities. WHO accepted indices for assessing caries designed by Henry T Klein, Carrole E Palmer and Knutson J.W was used. SPSS 20 version software was used for data analysis. Results: Among 468 primary school children examined, 224 were from Government and 244 were from Private school. The prevalence of dental caries was 62 % and more deciduous teeth were decayed. The decayed, filled teeth surfaces in Private and Government school was statistically significant (p=0.000) but gender wise prevalence was statistically insignificant (p=0.303). Among 1st Permanent Molars teeth examined 85% were decayed.Conclusion: This pilot study shows prevalence of dental caries more in deciduous teeth. Among the permanent teeth affected, first permanent molars are in high number.

Introduction: Oral health, the mirror of general well being, is altered by many mediators like infection, chronic inflammation, and genetic predisposition. The present dietary pattern among children is contributing to childhood overweight as well as increasing the risk for developing dental caries. The food habits contributing to dental caries as well as obesity are similar. Undernutrition has also shown to be associated with the dental caries. The study was conducted to investigate the relationship of body mass index to dental caries.Methods: A cross sectional clinical study was conducted on 7 to 12 year old children, studying in public schools, visiting the Department of Pediatric Dentistry for a routine dental check up. The study evaluated the nutritional status by calculating the body mass index using the formula BMI= Weight (kg)/Height2 (m2). Then their Body Mass Index and correlated with the Dental caries status using WHO criteria for decayed, missing and filled teeth index. Data analysis was done by SPSS 20 software program.Results: Total of 251 children between 7 to 12 years were evaluated. The mean age of the participants was 9.12 years. No statistically significant result was found on comparing the nutritional status to dental caries (P=0.43). A statistically significant difference though was found on comparing dental caries status among gender (P=0.021) as well different age groups (P=0.031).Conclusions: The study showed the presence of more normal and underweight children but there was no statistically significant association between body mass index and decayed, missing and filled teeth index.

Background & Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the oral health related knowledge, attitude and practices of bachelors level nursing college students in Kathmandu district.Materials & Methods: Data was collected using pre-designed questionnaire among 251 nursing students of three colleges comprising of 43 closed ended questions adopted from various studies. Twenty five questions related to knowledge, 8 questions of attitude and 10 of practice were asked. Prior to conducting the study permission was obtained from institutional review board of Kantipur Dental College and from the Campus Chief of the nursing colleges.Results: Majority of respondents had good oral health knowledge including functions of teeth (94.0%), mineral important for tooth formation (98.4%), vitamin necessary for growth and development of  teeth (91.2%), dental caries (90.4%), gingival diseases (96.4%) and treatment for malocclusion (90.8%). Almost half of the participants did not know about treatment options for gum disease, consequences of irregular teeth and causes of oral cancer. Majority of the participants showed good attitudes towards oral health with 99.2% giving equal importance to their teeth like their general health. 78.9% of the participants brush twice daily with 98% using toothbrush and toothpaste among whom 65.7% uses soft bristle toothbrushes. Conclusion: It was seen that oral health related knowledge, attitude and practice of nursing students was adequate but further improvements can be encouraged and facilitated.

Introduction: Self-medication means the use of medications for the treatment of any disease ontheir own, without consulting any healthcare professional. At times self-medication can be usefulif practiced correctly by saving time and money, whereas disadvantages often occur due to lackof evaluation by trained medical professionals and delay ineffective treatment and can result inunnecessary expenses and drug dependence. This study was conducted to find out the self-medicationbehavior and its associated factors among patients visiting a dental hospital in Kathmandu. Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 265 patients in Kantipur DentalCollege from December 2019 to January 2020 among the patients attending the dental Out PatientDepartment. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of KantipurDental College. A convenience sampling technique was used. Proformas were prepared in English,translated to Nepali and re-translated to English by the back-translation method. Data entry wasdone in Microsoft Excel and analysis in SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics was done. Results: The prevalence of self-medication practice was found to be 166 (62.6%). Out of totalparticipants, 99 (59.6%) consumed medicines for few days only and the most common triggeringfactor was found to be toothache in 101 (60.8%) participants. The most common reason for selfmedication was found to be a previous experience of treating similar illnesses. Conclusions: The prevalence of self-medication was found to be low as compared to the study donein similar settings. Self-medication practice is a sensitive issue that hasn’t been given the requiredconsideration.

Background: Healthy teeth, their supporting structures and gingiva play an important role in oral health. Gingivitis progresses to periodontitis in a phased manner causing continuous deterioration. In severe cases, removal of the tooth becomes inevitable. Hence, if gingivitis and periodontitis can be identified and treated earlier, tooth loss can be minimized. Aim: To assess the status of oral hygiene, gingival and periodontal health of Urban population of Kathmandu district. Materials and methods: Data on cross-sectional study of 252 individuals was collected using pre-designed survey form utilizing Gingival Index, Oral Hygiene Index–Simplified and Community Periodontal Index. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: An urban population of 126 males and 126 females were examined in Kathmandu for this survey. In this study, 55.6% were of age-group 20-39 years while 44.4% were of 40-60 years, 35.31% and 54.76% of individuals had good and fair oral hygiene respectively & 49.20% of them had deposition of calculus and 25% had loss of attachment of 4-5mm. Only 16.6% were having healthy gingiva whereas 52.38% had mild and 26.5% had moderate gingivitis. Statistically significant results of all above are seen with advancement of age (p<0.05). Conclusion: Results show that gingival and periodontal diseases are widely distributed in urban population. Hence, appropriate preventive and periodic therapies should be employed.

No abstract

Introduction: The exact origin of mechanical device for cleaning teeth is not known. In past, plants with high aromatic properties were chewed by people in twigs form. These twigs freshened breath and spread out fibres at their tips as they were used for cleaning teeth and gum surfaces. China was the first country to invent toothbrush. Widely used oral hygiene aids are toothbrush and toothpaste. Objective: To assess the factors influencing selection of oral hygiene aids among an urban population of Kathmandu district. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted during July-October 2019 among the adult population from outreach programs and outpatient department of Kantipur Dental College Teaching Hospital after receiving ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee. Convenience sampling was done. A predesigned questionnaire was used for data collection purpose. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS v.20 software. Chi-square test was done at ≤ 0.05 level of significance. Results: Among 301 participants, 133 (44.2%) were male and 168 (55.8%) were female. The factors that influenced selection of toothpaste were: taste 169 (56.1%), fluoride content 160 (53.2%), previous experience 209 (69.4%), dentist’s advice 180 (59.8%). Factors that influenced selection of toothbrush were: texture of bristle 274 (91%), cost of toothbrush 169 (56%), brand 211 (70%), previous experience, 200 (66.4%), 184 (61%) by size of head of toothbrush, and 184 (61.1%) by dentist’s advice. Conclusion: Previous experience, cost, and dentist’s advice seemed influential factors in the choice of oral hygiene aids among the urban population of Kathmandu district.

Introduction: Dental neglect is a harmful behavior which brings many unwanted consequences in oral health. It has been found to be related to poor oral hygiene and increase in oral diseases. Dental neglect scale is a valid measure to record dental neglect among adults. Objective: To assess dental negligence using Dental Neglect Scale (DNS) questionnaire and assess its association with oral hygiene status and dental caries. Methods: Study consisted of convenient sample of 287 adults visiting Kantipur Dental Hospital who were given six-item Dental Neglect Scale questionnaire followed by oral examination using Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) and Decayed Missing Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. Results: The mean DNS score was found to be 18.40. Statistically significant difference was seen between age of the participants and mean DNS score (P value 0.033) as well as with gender and mean DNS score (P value 0.001). Association between dental neglect score and DMFT categorised and OHI-S shows statistically significant difference the groups with p value 0.022 and 0.001 respectively. Conclusion: Dental neglect was found to be high among adults in Kathmandu and caries and oral hygiene status were significantly associated with dental neglect. Variation in dental neglect exists in relation to various sociodemographic variables like age and gender.