METHODOLOGY: For this research, descriptive cross-sectional study using simple random sampling method was used. Population sampling was targeted toward three government schools. The total number of respondents is 383, with all of them aged between 13 and- 16 years of age. Legal considerations were taken to maintain the confidentiality of respondents. The specific objectives are: 1. To determine the level of change of intention on smoking, 2. To know the perceived reactions of the peer groups on the appearances of students as nonsmokers, 3. To determine whether the students learned new benefits of nonsmokingand, 4. To measure the impact of a facial-aging app among students.

RESULTS: The number of respondents who smoke was 40 (10.4%), while the number of respondents who do not smoke was 343 (89.6%). About 89% of the respondents agree that their three-dimensional selfie image motivates them not to smoke. In addition, 87.8% of respondents admit that the perceived reactions of their classmates make them think that they look better as nonsmokers. After learning the effects of smoking, about 86.4% of the respondents acknowledged that they would educate their peer groups. Furthermore, 85.9% of the respondents found this "Smokerface" app enjoyable.

METHODS: We analysed Demographic and Health Survey data on tobacco use collected from large nationally representative samples of men and women in 54 LMICs. We estimated the weighted prevalence of any current tobacco use (including smokeless tobacco) in each country for 4 educational groups and 4 wealth groups. We calculated absolute and relative measures of inequality, that is, the slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII), which take into account the distribution of prevalence across all education and wealth groups and account for population size. We also calculated the aggregate SII and RII for low-income (LIC), lower-middle-income (lMIC) and upper-middle-income (uMIC) countries as per World Bank classification.

FINDINGS: Male tobacco use was highest in Bangladesh (70.3%) and lowest in Sao Tome (7.4%), whereas female tobacco use was highest in Madagascar (21%) and lowest in Tajikistan (0.22%). Among men, educational inequalities varied widely between countries, but aggregate RII and SII showed an inverse trend by country wealth groups. RII was 3.61 (95% CI 2.83 to 4.61) in LICs, 1.99 (95% CI 1.66 to 2.38) in lMIC and 1.82 (95% CI 1.24 to 2.67) in uMIC. Wealth inequalities among men varied less between countries, but RII and SII showed an inverse pattern where RII was 2.43 (95% CI 2.05 to 2.88) in LICs, 1.84 (95% CI 1.54 to 2.21) in lMICs and 1.67 (95% CI 1.15 to 2.42) in uMICs. For educational inequalities among women, the RII varied much more than SII varied between the countries, and the aggregate RII was 14.49 (95% CI 8.87 to 23.68) in LICs, 3.05 (95% CI 1.44 to 6.47) in lMIC and 1.58 (95% CI 0.33 to 7.56) in uMIC. Wealth inequalities among women showed a pattern similar to that of men: the RII was 5.88 (95% CI 3.91 to 8.85) in LICs, 1.76 (95% CI 0.80 to 3.85) in lMIC and 0.39 (95% CI 0.09 to 1.64) in uMIC. In contrast to men, among women, the SII was pro-rich (higher smoking among the more advantaged) in 13 of the 52 countries (7 of 23 lMIC and 5 of 7 uMIC).

Methods: This is a prospective, non-interventional, comparative study of 59 male (27 smokers and 32 non-smokers) undergraduates of a public university. Tear film stability was evaluated using non-invasive tear break-up time and fluorescein tear break-up time. Corneal staining was determined using Efron grading scale. MDEQ and OSDI Questionnaires were used to assess dry eye symptoms. Data were obtained from the right eye only and analyzed using descriptive and correlation analysis.

Results: The age range of the participants was between 19 and 25 years. The mean age for smokers and non-smokers was 22.19 ± 2.20 and 21.22 ± 1.83 years, respectively (P = 0.07). The smoker group had statistically significant lower tear film stability than the non-smoker group (P < 0.0001). Corneal staining was statistically significant higher at the nasal and temporal parts of the cornea in smokers (P < 0.05). There was a moderate correlation between tear film stability and scores of MDEQ and OSDI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 subjects were selected for this study. 40 subjects presented with periodontitis, which included 20 snuff users (SP) and 20 nonsnuff users (NS). 20 periodontally healthy patients formed the controls (healthy control: HC). The clinical parameters recorded were gingival index (GI), plaque index, calculus index, bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), recession (RC), and clinical attachment level (CAL). The IL-1 β and IL-8 levels were assessed through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Quantikine(®)). Analysis of variance (ANOVA), post-hoc Tukey's, Kruskal-Walli's ANOVA and Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison among groups and P > 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: No significant difference was seen in levels of IL-1 β and IL-8 between SP and NS groups (P = 0.16, 0.97). However, both the periodontitis groups (SP and NS) had increased IL-β levels when compared to HC group (P = 0.01, 0.001). The snuff users showed significant increase in GI, BOP, RC, and CAL when compared with NS (P = 0.002, 0.001, 0.012, 0.002) whereas NS group had significant increase in PD (P = 0.003).

METHODS: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on a child's current and previous illnesses, oral health behaviours, dietary habits, parental smoking behaviours and parents' dental history. The intraoral examination recorded dental caries (dmfs), enamel defects, gingival health, melanin pigmentation and soft tissue health. Stimulated saliva was collected. Total sIgA levels were quantified using indirect competitive ELISA with a SalimetricsTM kit.

RESULTS: The 44 children (aged 15-69 months) recruited were divided into two groups: ETS and non-ETS (control). There were 22 children in each: 16 who were exposed to ETS during and after gestation were identified as the ETSB subgroup. Participants exposed to ETS were more likely to have had upper respiratory tract and middle ear infections during the neonatal period and had higher mean dmft, mean dmfs, mean percent of surfaces with demarcated opacities and mean GI than the non-ETS participants. The children exposed to ETS before and after birth had the highest occurrence of enamel opacities showed a higher risk for dental caries even though more children in this group used the recommended fluoride toothpaste (1000 ppm fluoride). Mothers who smoked either never breastfed their children or breastfed their children for less than the recommended period of 6 months. Children exposed to ETS were shown to have higher mean total sIgA (μg/ml) than the children in the control group.

Methods: A TCTM for students of dentistry was developed using ADDIE framework as a guide. Content and construct validation of the module was done by six subject experts using Delphi technique for obtaining consensus. Pilot testing was done on 20 students of third year BDS. Pre- and post-intervention assessment of knowledge, attitude, self-confidence was done using learning outcomes questionnaire. Ability to correctly identify oral manifestations was assessed using extended item MCQs and tobacco counseling skills using a modified KEECC. The difference in mean scores were computed and subjected to further statistical analysis using SPSS version 22.

Results: There was a significant improvement in post intervention scores for mean knowledge (5.5 ± 1.4 to 13.2 ± 1.1), attitude (5.6 ± 0.9 and 8.5 ± 0.5), self-confidence (1.5 ± 0.5 and 3.1 ± 0.2), ability to correctly identify oral manifestations (5.2 ± 1.4 and 9.4 ± 0.8) and tobacco counseling skills.