Asthma medication and dental disease risk in children

An interesting article titled “Asthma medication and risk of dental diseases in children – A prospective cohort study” written by Pia Elisabeth Nørrisgaard and et al. appears in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (published 9 October 2023). The article seeks to explore if th use of inhaled asthma medication in children is a risk factor for dental caries and enamel defects. The authors followed 3,983 children from birth to 6 years of age, and assessed their use of inhaled corticosteroids, inhaled β2-agonists, and asthma symptoms. The children underwent examation for caries and enamel defects at 6 years of age. Caries was defined as decayed, missing, or filled surfaces. Enamel defects were defined as demarcated opacity, post-eruptive enamel breakdown, and/or atypical restoration on at least one molar. A prospective cohort study that included 589 children was also conducted. From these children, 61% … Read more

Deep Breaths by Children can Help Reduce Dental Fear

An interesting article titled “Breathing out dental fear: A feasibility crossover study on the effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing in children sitting on the dentist’s chair” written by Martina Levi and et al. appears in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry (Feb. 13, 2022). The article sought to explore if diaphragmatic breathing by children can help to reduce fear and anxiety in dental setting. In the study the authors evaulated 20 children who had two dental procedures done on different days who were between the ages of 7 and 13. The children were assigned two groups in one group the children were taught diaphragmatic breathing to be used prior to dental treatment and in the other group they were instructed to start their dental treatment normally. The children in the diaphramatic breathing group only had their dental treatment begin when they … Read more

Computer controlled anesthesia for extraction of teeth

An interesting article titled “Computer-controlled Intraligamentary local anaesthesia in extraction of mandibular primary molars: randomised controlled clinical trial,” appears in the 2022 edition of BMC Oral Health written by Rodaina H. Helmy and et. al. (vol 22, no. 194, pp. 1-10). The article seeks to explore the pain experience when using a computer controlled anethesia injection while extracting lower primary molars in children. To explore the pain experiences of children, 50 healthy children between the ages of 5 and 7, with 29 females, and 21 males, who needed a lower primary molar extractioned were included in the trial. The parents of the children had to consent to inclusion in the trial. Any child who had teeth that showed signs of mobility, acute pathosis, ankylosis, or root resorption affecting more than a third of the root were excluded from the study. … Read more

Reducing Anxiety among Pediatric Dental Patients

An interesting article titled “an Anxiety Reduction Program as an Alternative to General Anesthesia for the Anxious Pediatric Dental Patient” was presented on July 23, 2021, at the virtual session of the 2021 International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/AADR/CADR General Session written by Suher Baker and et al. The research set to investigate the efficacy of a systematic Anxiety Reduction Program (ARP) using progressive desensitization to reduce anxiety in children to a level that would allow dental treatment to be performed in-office without the use of general anesthesia. Dental anxiety has been covered on this site before see for example the post Dental Anxiety and Fear: Impact on Oral Health. Children are more likely to experience an unfavorable and unforeseen incident caused by an error or omission during dental treatment that has negative health consequencies. This is because children do … Read more

Pediatric Dental Patients Regularly have Adverse Events

An interesting article titled “Children Experience Notable Number of Adverse Events During Dental Care” was presented on July 23, 2021, at the virtual session of the 2021  International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/AADR/CADR General Session written by William Nicola and et al. The research set to investigate how common adverse events are for children who receive dental care in the United States. An adverse event is an unfavorable and generally unforeseen incident caused by an error or omission during treatment that has negative consequences for health. Children are believed to suffer more commonly from adverse events than adults because they do not alwasy cooperate and they often can not sit still. The authors had sent out an online anonymous survey to 6,327 active members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) in late 2019. The survey consisted of 13 … Read more