Material and methods: 50 patients with established gingivitis were included in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the test (Parodontax®) or the control (Colgate® herbal) group. There were 5 drop outs in the study in the control group after baseline examination. No prophylaxis was undertaken prior to commencement of the study, and no attempt was made to modify the participant's oral hygiene habits. A brief case history was recorded at baseline. The Turesky (1970) modification of the Quigley, Hein (1962) Plaque index (PI), the Loe and Silness (1963) Gingival Index (GI). Unstimulated salivary samples were collected at baseline and 30th day and the pH was measured using a salivary pH meter (CL-51B; Systronics New Delhi, India).Comparisons (intergroup and intragroup) were analysed by the t-test. Groups were also compared regarding age by means of t test, and association between group and sex was verified by means of the chi-square test. All statistical tests employed a level of significance of α = 0.05. There were reports of presence of nicotine and its derivatives in herbal toothpaste after the study was nearing completion. Hence we assessed for the presence of nicotine in both the toothpaste using the methods described by Aggarwal et al.24.
Results: When the two groups (test and control groups) were evaluated, after 30 days, the test group presented an average 21.08% reduction in plaque and the control group showed 31.85% reduction in plaque scores. The mean reduction in gingival index (GI) scores was 25.92% and 19.14% in the test and control groups respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups in GI, PI and salivary pH levels. There was no evidence of nicotine or related compounds in both the tooth paste.
Conclusion: Both herbal based dentifrices reduce plaque levels and gingival inflammation. But, it did not alter the pH of the saliva. However, there were no additional benefits of the Parodontax® toothpaste over Colgate® Herbal toothpaste. There was no evidence of nicotine or related compounds in both herbal toothpaste.
AIM: The study was conducted to determine the awareness, knowledge, and attitude of patients toward dental implants as a treatment modality among the general population and to assess the influence of personality characteristics on accepting dental implants as a treatment modality in general and as well as treatment group.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A structured questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 500 randomly selected participants attending the outpatient department. The study was conducted in 2 parts. In the first part of the study, level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude was assessed. In the second part of the study, interactive educational sessions using audiovisual aids were conducted following which a retest was conducted. The participants who agreed to undergo implant treatment were followed up to assess their change in attitude towards dental implants posttreatment. Thus pain, anxiety, functional, and esthetic benefits were measured using visual analog scale. They were further followed up for 1 year to reassess awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards dental implants.
RESULTS: A total of 450 individuals completed the questionnaires. Only 106 individuals agreed to participate in the educational sessions and 83 individuals took the retest. Out of these, only 39 individuals chose implants as a treatment option. A significant improvement in the level of information, subjective and objective need for information, was noted after 1 year.
CONCLUSION: In this study, a severe deficit in level of information, subjective and objective need for information towards, dental implants as a treatment modality was noted. In the treatment group, a significant improvement in perception of dental implant as a treatment modality suggests that professionally imparted knowledge can bring about a change in the attitude.
AIMS: Aim of our study was to investigate the association between tooth loss and increased blood pressure among adult patients.
METHODS AND MATERIAL: A cross-sectional study among 270 adults aged 20-59 years was conducted. The dependent variables were systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The main exploratory variable was the number of self-reported natural teeth for each dental arch. They were recorded as 10 or more natural teeth, less than 10 natural teeth, and no natural teeth. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis.
RESULTS: Mean SBP was 125.3 mmHg and DBP was 78.9 mmHg. Moreover, 29.3% of participants had hypertension, 8.9% were edentulous, 22.8% had lost more than 10 teeth, and 68.3% had lost less than 10 teeth. Increased SBP was seen with increased tooth loss among participants. After adjusting for all covariates, no significant association between tooth loss and SBP and DBP was seen.
CONCLUSIONS: The mean SBP was higher among the participants who were edentulous than partially edentulous. However, there was no significant association between tooth loss and SBP and DBP after adjusting for confounding factors.