Background: Dental caries is a chronic, infectious and preventable disease that is very common around the world. It has been observed that dental caries affect not only the majority of adults but also 60% to 90% of children. Permanent first molars (PFM) are the most commonly decayed teeth observed in children. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the decayed, missing filled teeth (DMFT) scores of PFMs in the early post-eruptive stage, within the scope of the United Nations Agenda for 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, thereby raising awareness for the prevention and treatment of permanent tooth decay. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in Erzurum between the years 2015–2016 by collecting data from children aged 7–10 years (17,208). In addition to the decayed, filled and missing data of the students’ 6-year-molars, their ages, genders, frequencies of both tooth brushing and dental office visits were evaluated. The relationship between the variables was analyzed with chi-square. Result: The present study analyzed the data of a total of 11,457 children, 5704 girls and 5753 boys with a mean age of 8.74 ± 1.18. There was a statistically significant difference between the PFMs 16, 26, 36 and 46 regarding the number of healthy, decayed, missing and restored teeth (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of caries in the PFMs of children aged 7–10 years was 15.9% and the mean DMFT was 0.79 ± 1.39. This result showed that PFMs might develop carious lesions and even be lost within three years in the early post-eruptive stage.

In age determination, different methods aiming to obtain the closest result to chronological age have been investigated so far. The most commonly used one among these is the radiological method, which is usually used to evaluate the developmental stages of wrist bones or teeth. In our study, we assessed bone age estimations using the Gilsanz–Ratib atlas (GRA), which has recently become commonly used for children aged 9 to 15 years; evaluated the dental age, determined with Cameriere’s European method; conducted morphometric measurements of the mandibular bone; and then examined their relationships with chronological age. The results of our study reveal that, in children during the puberty growth spurt, Cameriere’s EU formula might have higher accuracy in estimating chronological age in younger age groups, while the GRA might be more accurate for older ages. Additionally, we conclude that of the mandibular morphometric measurements, condylar height and tangential ramus height show strong positive correlations with age. As a result, we conclude that the morphometric measurements evaluated in the present study can be used as auxiliary methods in forensic anthropology and forensic dentistry.

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of restorative crown materials with different elastic moduli on stress distribution in dentin and supporting tissues of pulpotomized primary anterior teeth under multi-directional loading conditions using the three-dimensional finite element analysis method. Materials and Methods: A three-dimensional model of a maxillary primary central incisor was created based on anatomical data. A clinical pulpotomy scenario was simulated using mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and resin-modified glass ionomer cement. Three models were analyzed: healthy tooth (control), Bioflx crown, and prefabricated zirconia crown. Frontal, oblique, and vertical loads were applied to represent functional and traumatic conditions. von Mises and principal stress distributions in the crown, dentin, and supporting tissues were evaluated. Results: In the prefabricated zirconia crown group, higher von Mises stress values were observed under all loading conditions, with significant stress concentrations particularly in the cervical region. In contrast, the Bioflx crown group exhibited lower stress values and a more homogeneous stress distribution. While the stress patterns in the Bioflx group were found to be closer to those of the control group, more localized stress accumulation was observed in the zirconia crowns. No significant differences were observed between the groups in the bone tissue. Conclusions: The elastic modulus of restorative materials plays a decisive role in the stress transfer mechanism. It is believed that materials with dentin-like mechanical properties may provide a more balanced and physiological stress distribution. Multi-directional loading analysis highlights the importance of evaluating the biomechanical behavior of restorative materials under more realistic conditions. Further advanced experimental and clinical studies are needed to clinically validate these findings.

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a common chronic disease in children and has been associated with systemic inflammatory and nutritional alterations. The hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet (HALP) score reflects immunonutritional status. This study investigated the associations of the HALP score and hematological parameters with ECC, caries burden, and periapical disease severity. Methods: This retrospective comparative study included 126 preschool children: 97 with ECC and 29 caries-free controls. Participants were further classified into low (Periapical Index (PAI) 1–3) and high (PAI 4–5) periapical disease severity groups according to the highest Periapical Index score. The HALP score was calculated using the standard formula. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: No statistically significant association was detected between the HALP score and ECC, dmft, or periapical disease severity (p > 0.05). Albumin levels were higher in the ECC group than in controls (p < 0.001). Neither the HALP score nor its individual hematological components were associated with caries burden in negative binomial regression analyses (p > 0.05). Greater caries burden was independently associated with severe periapical disease (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.19, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.09–1.30, p < 0.001), whereas hemoglobin was not (p = 0.052). Conclusions: No statistically significant association was detected between the HALP score and ECC status, caries burden, or periapical disease severity. Although albumin levels differed between children with ECC and caries-free controls, neither the HALP score nor its individual hematological components were independently associated with caries burden. Larger prospective multicenter studies are needed to validate these findings.

Background/Objectives: The performance of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in providing information to parents about pediatric dental anxiety and behavior guidance remains insufficiently established. This study compared four AI chatbots regarding accuracy, overall quality, reliability, readability, and day-to-day consistency. Methods: Twenty frequently asked parental questions were submitted to ChatGPT-5.6 Luna, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Grok 4.5 over three consecutive days, generating 240 responses. Two blinded pediatric dentists independently evaluated accuracy using a five-point Likert scale, overall quality using the Global Quality Scale (GQS), and reliability using modified DISCERN (mDISCERN). Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), and day-to-day semantic consistency using Sentence-BERT. Model comparisons were performed using the Friedman test with Holm-adjusted pairwise comparisons. Results: Significant differences were identified among chatbots in accuracy, reliability, and readability (all p < 0.001). Accuracy was generally high across models (median 4.5–5), although Gemini demonstrated significantly lower accuracy than ChatGPT and Grok. Reliability remained limited (median mDISCERN scores: 1.00–3.00/5), particularly regarding source transparency. Claude demonstrated the highest readability (median FRES: 71.90), whereas Grok had the lowest (47.47). No significant differences were observed in overall quality (p = 0.051) or day-to-day semantic consistency (p = 0.602). Conclusions: Although AI chatbots generally provided accurate and semantically consistent responses, limitations in reliability and readability were evident. These findings support their potential use as supplementary parental education tools while emphasizing the importance of source transparency, accessible language, and individualized counseling by pediatric dentists.