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OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess knowledge concerning traumatic dental injuries and their management among primary schoolteachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The secondary objective was to evaluate the effect of gender, nationality, marital status, school type, geographical area, age group, level of education and years of experience on teachers' knowledge. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected, through a self-administered questionnaire, from both male and female teachers employed in public and private primary schools in the five geographical areas of Riyadh City. The total sample size was 1,520 teachers. Data were entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Frequencies and percentages were calculated. An independent t-test and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to calculate significance. RESULTS: The total score for the questions assessing knowledge was calculated out of 9, and the highest score was 7 with an average score of 2.85. Over half of the sampled participants stated that they did not know how to manage soft-tissue injuries. Regarding the management of fractured teeth, 38.8% believed that the fractured part is useless; and for the management of an avulsed permanent tooth, only 6.2% of the respondents selected the correct answer. For the question regarding suitable storage medium of an avulsed tooth, only 19.7% chose milk and 3.2% chose the injured person's saliva. Teachers between 41 and 50 years of age and those with longer years of experience had the highest level of knowledge. Teachers in the north area of Riyadh had a higher level of knowledge than teachers in other areas. CONCLUSION: There was a lack of knowledge among primary schoolteachers in Riyadh concerning traumatic dental injuries and their management. Statistically significant differences were found among geographical areas, age groups and years of experience; no statistically significant differences were found regarding gender, nationality, marital status, level of education and school type (public/private).

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BACKGROUND: The impact of visual impairment on oral health in the literature is inconclusive, and the available information on the medical and dental health status of visually impaired children is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental and medical health status, and to assess the oral health knowledge of visually impaired girls aged 6-12 years, and compare them to that of sighted children. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 79 visually impaired and 83 age-matched sighted female primary school children. The children's demographic data, medical history, and dental history were obtained through a validated questionnaire. The study population was examined to evaluate their dental caries status using the Decayed Missing Filled Teeth/Surface indices DMFT/DMFS/ and dmft/dmfs for permanent and primary teeth, respectively. Oral hygiene index (OHI), Plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were obtained for periodontal evaluation. Pearson's Chi-square test and t-test were used for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: The general health for both groups was found to be good; however, 21.5% of the visually impaired children had systemic diseases compared with only 4.8% of the sighted children (P = 0.002). Statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) were found between the two groups with regards to OHI. Among the sighted children, 49.4% had good oral hygiene compared with only 22.8% of the visually impaired group. The plaque accumulation was found to be greater among the visually impaired group and gingivitis was also higher. The DMFS score was found to be higher (P = 0.03) among the visually impaired group. CONCLUSIONS: The visually impaired children had more medical conditions and poorer oral health status compared to their sighted peers.

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The objective of this study was to compare the retention and caries-preventive effect of glass ionomer (Fuji Triage) and resin-based (Clinpro) sealants among 6-9-year-old children. This split-mouth, randomized clinical trial covered 35 children/140 fully erupted permanent first molars. Evaluation was conducted by two independent examiners after 6, 12, and 18 months and the data were compared in relation to the children's caries risk and age groups. The Kaplan-Meier survival method and chi-square test were used for analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in the survival of partial and fully retained sealants or in the survival of caries-free pits and fissures between glass-ionomer and resin-based sealants. In terms of retention, both sealants performed better in the younger age group at the end of the study, and showed better caries prevention in moderate caries risk children. After 18 months, both sealants had comparable retention and caries-preventive effects in 6-9-year old children.

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The aim of this study was to assess the oral habit practices, dental trauma, and occlusal characteristics of 4- to 12-year-old orphans living in governmental orphanages in Riyadh. This cross-sectional study was conducted in three government orphanages and three ordinary schools. All 90 orphans, residing in the orphanage, were included. Ninety schoolchildren were selected to serve as the controls. Demographic data, oral habit history, and dental trauma history were obtained through a questionnaire. All children were examined to confirm the presence of signs of oral habits, dental trauma, and associated occlusal characteristics. Pearson chi-square was used for statistical analysis. Orphans were found to have more digit sucking and oral self-mutilation habits; however, the control children were found to have more nail biting habit. Nearly 21% of the orphans had dental trauma compared to 10% of the control group. About 70% of the dental trauma affected permanent teeth among orphans, whereas, 85% affected primary teeth in the control children. Dental trauma increased as the orphans got older; however, it decreased significantly as the control children got older. Orphans were found to have more cross-bite, increased over-jet, and open-bite. Digit sucking habit was positively associated with class II molar relation, presence of posterior cross-bite, and open-bite. Orphans had increased prevalence of digit sucking habit, self-mutilation, dental trauma, and malocclusion.

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OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted to determine the prevalence of self-perceived halitosis among adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and to assess the relation of halitosis with some socio-demographic factors, oral habits and health practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to randomly selected subjects including senior high school students, college students and employees working in governmental offices. High schools and governmental offices were selected using systematic random sampling from each of the main five regions of Riyadh. The college students were selected from the major universities in Riyadh. One hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed in each of the 15 locations for males and 15 for females (5 schools, 5 universities and 5 governmental offices for each gender) giving a total of 3000 questionnaires. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-perceived halitosis was 22.8% among the participants. The majority of the subjects with self-perceived halitosis experienced bad breath on waking up (83.5%). Nearly half of the sample with self-perceived halitosis was told by others that they had bad breath, 25.8% visited a doctor regarding that, 23.8% received treatment for their bad breath and 54.1% made trials to control their problem by using some aids. Self-perceived halitosis was found to be more prevalent among males compared to females (P < 0.000), whereas, no statistically significant differences were found among the different age groups (P = 0.317). A statistically significant relationship was found between self-perceived halitosis and times of mouth cleaning, use of tooth brush, use of tooth paste, tongue cleaning (P < 0.000), and the use of dental floss (P = 0.004). A statistically significant relationship was also found between self-perceived halitosis and shisha (P < 0.000) and cigarette smoking (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of self-perceived halitosis among the population in Riyadh is within the range reported in other countries. Self-perceived halitosis is related to gender, inadequate oral hygiene practices and cigarettes and shisha smoking however, it is not related to age.