Objectives: The present study evaluated associated factors for developing early childhood caries (ECC) and Severe-ECC (S-ECC) in a group of children aged 24–71 months. Potential positive effects of early dental visit on formation of ECC is investigated as well. Study Design: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study conducted at three governmental and university pediatric dentistry clinics in 408 preschool children who were randomly selected from a total of 4116 children. The questionnaires administered to the mothers by interview and intraoral examination performed by calibrated pediatric dentists. The children were evaluated in three groups according to their caries experience as who had caries free, ECC and S-ECC. Results: The following factors were significantly associated with caries formation: 1. Prolonged (i.e., >18 months) breastfeeding in preterm babies (OR=2.4) 2. Prolonged breastfeeding in children who started tooth brushing after 1.5 years of age (OR=3.7), 3. Sugar (p<0.001) and fruit-juice consumption (p<0.0001), and 4. Lack of periodic dental examination (p<0.05). Parental smoking habit does not significantly affect ECC development. Nocturnal bottle feeding and nocturnal feeding also affected S-ECC formation significantly (p=0.043 and p=0.005, respectively). Conclusions: There is a significant difference between the children with caries and caries-free associated with the brushing initiation age started before or after 18 months. If a child is under the risk of multiple caries factors, it is very difficult to evaluate which habits affect the caries formation or increase the severity of the caries lesions.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral health care knowledge and behavior of women during pregnancy. Subjects and Methods: The study population consisted of 351 mothers with children under 3 months of age who presented at Gülhane Medical Academy’s Department of Pediatrics for a routine child check-up. Mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their knowledge and behavior regarding dental care during pregnancy. Results: All the women who participated in the study had dental insurance, and most of them had high levels of education. Of the 351 mothers, 263 (75%) had heard about possible connections between oral health and pregnancy outcome, and 165 (47%) believed tooth and periodontal problems could affect pregnancy outcome. However, 256 (73%) women still believed that calcium would be drawn out of their teeth by the developing baby, and 151 (43%) believed in the erroneous statement ‘A tooth for a baby’. 241 (68.7%) women had experienced oral health problems during pregnancy; however, only 48 (13.7%) visited a dentist during their pregnancy. Conclusions: Turkish women, despite having knowledge that adverse pregnancy events may be related to dental and periodontal problems, did not seek oral health care during pregnancy. This suggests the need to better educate medical providers to inform pregnant women to obtain oral health care during pregnancy.

Background:  The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of moderate sedation with nitrous oxide/oxygen (N₂O/O₂) alone or combined with different dosages and administration routes of midazolam in uncooperative paediatric dental patients using the Bispectral Index System (BIS).Methods:  This one‐year clinical study examined first‐visit moderate sedation performed in 240 healthy children aged 4–6 years. Subjects were randomly divided into four groups according to drug, route and dosage, as follows: Group 1 – 0.20 mg/kg midazolam (40 mg/ml) delivered intranasally; Group 2 – 0.75 mg/kg midazolam (15 mg/3 ml) delivered orally; Group 3 – 0.50 mg/kg midazolam (15 mg/3 ml) delivered orally. All children in these three groups also received inhalation sedation with 50%–50% N₂O/O₂, whereas children in Group 4 received inhalation sedation with 50%–50% N₂O/O₂ only. The outcome of sedation was evaluated as either ‘successful’, ‘failed’ or ‘not accepted’.Results:  The highest success rate was found in Group 1 (0.20 mg/kg intranasally, 87%), followed by Group 2 (0.75 mg/kg orally, 79%). The overall mean success rate for all groups was 73%.Conclusions:  Moderate sedation can be successfully used in the clinical management of paediatric dental patients, with both intranasal and oral sedation using midazolam in conjunction with nitrous oxide found to be effective methods.

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and behaviour of mothers in maintaining their oral health during pregnancy. Material and Methods: This study included 167 women in five community primary health centres in Central Jakarta whose last child ranged between 0-59 months. The participants were asked to fill the questionnaire “Knowledge and Behaviour Towards Oral Health during Pregnancy” (KBOHP). This questionnaire assessed the knowledge and behaviour in maintaining oral health during pregnancy. Results: Almost 80% of participants reported that they had government dental health coverage. Only about 16% of participants reported that they visit dentist before pregnancy and only about 32% of the participants reported to have oral health problems during pregnancy. Although they have oral health problems, only 18% of them visited the dentists during pregnancy. Only 33% of the participants knew that the periodontal problems can affect pregnancy outcome, and 54.5% of participants had never heard of a possible connection between oral health and pregnancy. About 74% of participants reported that they never had specific oral health care instruction during pregnancy. Participants who received oral health instruction from their health providers also tend to have dental visit during pregnancy. Conclusion: Knowledge and behaviour towards oral health during pregnancy in this population was still low. A program that is developed to improve knowledge and behaviour in maintaining oral health during pregnancy is needed.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become the most challenging issue for dental professionals all over the world. The majority of epidemiological reports focus on quality of life and health of general health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, it was aimed to assess the effects of the pandemic on dental professionals’ quality of life. Material and Method: After the vaccination of healthcare workers in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic, a descriptive cross-sectional study of 487 dental professionals was carried out by the researchers. Short Form-36 (SF-36) which is based on eight dimensions of health were used to assess dental professionals’ quality of life. The data was collected using an electronic questionnaire distributed online. The participants were asked to indicate their socio-demographic data, their practices regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and whether they had contracted the COVID-19 disease. Results: The quality of life of all participants was moderately disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic with a mental health score of 51.32 (±20.66) and a physical health score of 72.9 (±16.73). Participants who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic scored lower with 45.83 (±20.08) in mental health and 66.94 (±18.47) in physical health. Overall, COVID-19 pandemic has a serious impact on the quality of life and and this impact is more marked in dental professionals with fewer years of experience and those who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The results confirm the need to pay attention to the health of dental professionals who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also point out that dental professionals who are recent graduates and working in the public sector may be more likely to have well-being problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic.