مجله دندانپزشکی کودکان ایران
پیاپی 13 (پاییز و زمستان 1390)

Fissure sealant therapy is one of the dental hygienists’ tasks in some countries and has been inserted in their curriculum during recent curriculum revision in Iran. Fissure sealant therapy has been selected as national program in oral health promotion and insurances cover it. Therefore, their education in this field must be continuously supervised. This study evaluates the dental hygiene students’ knowledge and attitude towards fissure sealant therapy, dental caries, diagnosis and refer the cases who need restorative (operative) treatment to the dentist. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytic study. All of nineteen dental hygiene students of Rafsanjan School of Dentistry participated in this study. They filled out a questionnaire. Data was analyzed in the form of descriptive and analytic statistics by spearman correlation. Almost all of the students diagnosed occlusal caries’ signs correctly and knew about no need to fissure sealant therapy on deep caries. Eleven students correctly answered to necessity of referring the patients to the dentist. There was a positive correlation between correct caries diagnosis and contraindication of applying fissure sealant. More than 40% of the students had no correct attitudes towards their referral role in dental care system. In contrast, they have an efficient knowledge about caries diagnosis and correct tooth selection for fissure sealant therapy. As a matter of fact, dental hygienist education program must contain more active theoretical and practical modules to improve their attitude toward referring to other levels of dental care system.

The improvement of the oral hygiene among people requires assessments to be done among the objective age groups regarding the issue. Furthermore, the students in the younger age groups are more concerned due to their important role in the oral hygiene programs. The present study investigated the knowledge, attitude and practice of the primary school students (level 5) of East Tehran regarding oral hygiene (districts 3,4, 12 and 15) on 2010-2011.Methods and Materials:This descriptive and cross-sectional study was done on 432 grade 5 primary students selected by means of cluster sampling. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used including 23 items (12 items of knowledge, 9 items for attitude, and 2 different items). The respondents received 1 score for each correctly answered knowledge item and their attitudes were determined by summing the scores classified by a 5-scaled lickert measure. The effects of demographic variables on the knowledge, attitude and TPI scores were assessed by means of Regression analysis and the correlation between these variables were studied by Pearson coefficient.The mean knowledge scores of the participants were 53.84 of total 100 scores, their mean attitude was 27.2 of total 45 and the mean TPI was 2.36. Reverse significant correlations were found between TPI and knowledge scores (p<0.001) and between knowledge and attitude scores also (p<0.003). Furthermore, mother education level significantly influenced respondent's plaque scores and the school type and mother education showed significant effects on the student's knowledge scores.The students of East Tehran districts showed moderate knowledge and attitudes regarding oral hygiene and together with the increased knowledge, their plaque scores had been reduced. Due to the importance of oral hygiene, it seems that holding oral hygiene instruction programs would lead to increased levelsof knowledge, attitude and behaviors among the students.

Stippling, one of the signs of healthy gingiva, is assumed to be an adaptation providing gingival strength. The present study was designed to investigate the status of stippling in 3-5 years of age preshoolers in the city of Rasht. In this descriptive, cross sectional study,164 children(73 females and 91 males) were examined.The mean age of participants was 50.28 months. The study carried out as two –stage random sampling. The anterior part of jaws were examined for stippling by drying the area and observation with intense light. Those children with mental retardation, systemic disease, history of chronic medication, and also rampant caries and/or multiple abscesses and gingivitis were excluded.statistical analysis was performed using Chi square and Fisher Exact test. Among 164 subjects, stippling was found in 76 (46.3%):from which 51.3% were males and 48.7%females.Sex didnt show any influence on prevalence. Stippling was found significantly more in upper than lower jaw.The distribution was not symmetrical,with most situated on canine area.Regarding to age 32.8% of 3-4 years age and 67.2% of 4-5 years children showed stippling, and there was a direct positive relationship between stippling and age. The results revealed no significant relationship between age and gender in either jaw. Occurrence of stippling had significant relationship with age and jaw in both sexes. Lack of stippling alone can not be considered as gingival disease and other inflammatory signs should be evaluated.

low level health worker's knowledge is one of the most important factors influencing on children' oral and nutritional health, in particular, dental caries. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of an educational intervention on knowledge level of dental students in first and last year of clinic at Shahid Beheshti dentistry faculty. In this self-controlled, pre-test post-test study, all (59 individuals) the first and last grade clinical students (term 5 and 12) were participated. The intervention was in the form of a power point presentation and a booklet on role of nutrition and primary care on infant oral health. We used two main guidelines to produce educational intervention and a 39-question questionnaire to assess knowledge. Assessment of students in the form of a questionnaire was completed immediately before and after one (posttest 1) and 7 days (post-test 2). the comparison of knowledge score between pre-test, post-test 1 and post-test 2 was done. There was a significant difference between pre test score (39.36 ± 8.92) and post-test 1 (79.15 ±10.78) (PV<0.001). Difference between pre test score (39.36 ± 8.92) and post-test 2 (75.72 ± 9.94) was significant (PV<0.001). Difference between post-test 1 score (79.15 ±10.78) and post-test 2 (75.72 ± 9.94) was significant, too (PV<0.001). There was no significant correlation between gender and year of dentistry training with pre or post-test scores. dental student's knowledge on infant oral health was not sufficient and a power point presentation and booklet was an effective educational intervention in teaching dental students. It is necessary to examine this intervention in higher levels to be useful in the country.