Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 63 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50).

published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

The last oral health survey conducted by the government of Hong Kong in 2001 found that dental caries was common among the kindergarten children and that most of their dental caries was untreated. The overall aims of this research project were to find out the oral health status of the kindergarten children in Hong Kong and the outcomes of providing a private practice based dental service programme to these children. To achieve the first aim, an oral health survey was conducted in 2007. Through stratified simple random sampling, 12 kindergartens in Hong Kong Island were selected. All children attending grades 1 to 2, aged 3 to 5 years, in the kindergartens were invited to participate. Children with parental consent were clinically examined by one of two calibrated examiners. A questionnaire on the child’s demographic background and oral health related behaviours was completed by the parents. Response rate of the survey was 89% and 1,343 children were examined. Their mean age was 52 months (SD=7) and 51.5% were boys. Around one third (35.3%) of the children had experienced dental caries. The mean dmft score was 1.5, increasing from 1.2 at age 3 to 2.0 at age 5 (ANOVA, p=0.016). Soft, cavitated caries (dt) accounted for 90% of the dmft score. The prevalence and severity of dental caries in the children were associated with the children’s socio-demographic background, and their dietary and tooth-brushing habits. To find out the feasibility of implementing a private clinic based dental service program for the preschool children a total of 245 children attending grade 1 in 9 kindergartens were invited to participate. Baseline information of the children was collected through a clinical examination and a parental questionnaire at April 2007. After baseline data collection, the study children were randomly allocated into the test or the control group. Children in the test group were offered free dental services at regular intervals in 3 private dental clinics. Evaluation took place in July 2009 after the completion of the 24-month intervention programme through conducting clinical examinations and a parental questionnaire. After 24 months, 88% of the control and test group students remained in the study. The mean dental appointment attendance rate of the test group children was 53%. Individualized instructions on oral hygiene were provided to 82% of the children and 52% of the children had received topical fluoride application. Treatments were provided to more than 30% of the children and the mean number of dental fillings placed is 1.1. The mean total running cost per child was around HK$100 a year. The kindergarten children who were covered by the study dental service programme had better oral health than that of the children who were not. The study programme was effective in preventing development of new dental caries and in reducing the amount of untreated caries among the test group children. However, it was not effective in improving the oral health related behaviours and oral hygiene status of the children. The study programme was acceptable to the kindergartens, the parents and the children by the satisfaction study. Consumer satisfaction was reasonable high. / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Objectives: To investigate the influences of dental treatment on change in oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) among older adults, an instrument to measure oral health impacts on daily living (OHIDL) and the change in the impact after dental treatment was developed and validated. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among older adults aged 55+ years. Information on their perceived oral health impacts was collected through semi-structured interview. The dimensions of OHIDL and the relevant items were identified through thematic framework approach. The OHIDL measured oral health impacts with intensity and bother measurements and the change in oral health impacts was assessed through transition scale. OHIDL was administrated through face-to-face interviews to older adults who attended dental clinics for general dental treatments at baseline and 1-3 months after the treatment. Construct validity was assessed through convergent, divergent and factorial validity. Criterion and longitudinal validity were investigated through assessing the correlation between the measurements and the global questions. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach’s α and test-retest correlation respectively. The relationships between oral health problems, perceived oral health impacts, dental treatment received, and change in the impacts were explored. Linear regression model was used to investigate the treatment effect in changing OHQoL. Results: In the qualitative study, 22 women and 17 men were interviewed (mean age: 72 years). Twenty items were generated and classified into seven domains: Cleansing, Eating, Speaking, Appearance, Social, Psychological, and Health & Finance. In the quantitative study, 306 subjects (mean age: 70 years) completed the interviews at baseline. Three items with over 90% of the subjects reported no impact and two items with poor discriminant validity (100% scaling error) were eliminated. Both intensity and bother measurements demonstrated good construct and criterion validity with the intensity measurement showing better performance and was selected in the OHIDL to reduce the respondents’ burden. At the follow-up evaluation, 56 subjects without receiving any treatment were excluded and 176 subjects were re-interviewed after the dental treatment. The transition scale showed good longitudinal validity. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the intensity and transition measurements were 0.88 and 0.87, respectively. The test-retest correlation for each item as measured by intensity and transition measurement ranged from 0.35 to 1.00 and 0.28 to 0.998, respectively. Compared to baseline, the mean number of oral health problems was significantly decreased from 4.80 to 2.73 (p < 0.05). Most of the subjects rated the overall perceived oral health impacts as improved (58%), the total transition score ranged from -11 to 39 with a mean value of 4.79 (SD = 8.02), which was over the threshold of MCID (3.3). Patients who perceived more oral health impacts at baseline and had received endodontic treatment had more improvement in the perceived oral health impacts. Conclusion: OHIDL is valid and reliable in measuring the oral health impacts on daily life and the change of the impacts after dental treatment. In this study, after receiving dental treatment, older adults perceived fewer oral health problems and positive change in the oral health impacts on daily living. / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The Dai and Bulang people are ethnic minorities in China. Most of them live in Yunnan province, which is located in the southwestern part of China. This study aimed to describe the oral health status, oral health-related behaviors of the 5-and12-year-old children of the Dai and Bulang ethnic groups, the oral health-related knowledge of the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children living in Yunnan Province, and the factors that influence their oral health status. An oral health survey was conducted on a sample of 5-and 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children in Yunnan, China. The children were selected using a multi-stage and purposeful sampling method for examination by a trained dentist. Dental caries experience was measured using the “dmft/DMFT” index,o ral hygiene status with VPI index and periodontal status with CPI index. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the children’s background, oral health-related knowledge and behaviors. A total of 833 Dai and 723 Bulang 5-year-old children were examined. The prevalence of dental caries among the Dai and Bulang children was 89% and 85%, respectively. There were 49%of the Dai and 38%of the Bulang children had carious tooth with pulp involvement. Their mean (±SD) dmft score was 7.0±5.3 and 5.8±4.9, respectively. Their mean (±SD) dt score was 6.8±5.2 and 5.6±4.8, respectively. Higher dmft scores were found among Dai children who were girls, were currently bottle-fed, took sweet snacks daily, had higher VPI scores, had visited a dentist within last year, and whose father had up to secondary school education. The Bulang children, who took sweet snacks daily, had visited a dentist within the last year and had higher VPI scores had higher dmft scores. A total of 823 Dai and 873 12-year-old Bulang children were surveyed and their prevalence of dental caries was 40% and 35%, respectively. Around 90% of the carious teeth were left untreated. Their mean DMFT (±SD) score was 0.9±1.5 and 0.6±1.1, respectively. Most of them (Dai, 93%; Bulang 71%) had gingivitis and around half of them (Dai, 46%; Bulang, 58%) had dental calculus. The Dai and Bulang children who were girls and those who had visited a dentist during the previous year had higher caries risk. The mean dental knowledge score of the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children was 7.2 ± 3.7 and 7.8 ± 3.6, respectively. In conclusion, the prevalence of dental caries of the 5-year-old Dai and Bulang children in Yunnan, China was high and most of them were left untreated. The caries experience of the 5-year-old Dai children was associated with gender, father’s education, bottle feeding habits, snacking habits, dental visit behavior, and oral hygiene status. The caries experience of the 5-year-old Bulang children was associated with their snacking habits, dental visit habitsand oral hygiene status. Dental caries was common among the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children and associated with gender and dental attendance. Most of the decay were left untreated. Their oral health-related knowledge was moderate. Their periodontal condition was poor. / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with varied etiology and diverse clinical course. World Health Organization (WHO) has distinguished three types of diabetes mellitus: insulin-dependent (Type I), non insulin-dependent (Type II) and associated with other disease and syndromes. Type I diabetes patients account for approximately 10% of all diabetics, in which children and adolescent almost exclusively develop Type I diabetes. Diabetes can be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms, such as excessive thirst appetite, polyuria, body weight reduction, glucosuria and hyperglycaemia, confirmed by laboratory test. Acute complications may develop in the course of diabetes, usually related to extreme level of plasma glucose. Chronic complications usually developed secondary to micro-vascular changes, causing damages to small vessels, nerves, multiple organs and oral cavity. The systematic review summarized the available evidence on the oral health of children with Type I diabetes mellitus. A total of 1179 abstract were retrieved during the initial search, and after exclusion, only 37 articles were qualified for final review and analysis. Though there was conflicting evidence regarding caries experience, it is clear that children with Type I diabetes mellitus exhibited poorer overall oral health status with higher plaque accumulation compared to healthy children. The case-control study aimed to evaluate and compare the oral health status of children with Type I diabetes mellitus with healthy, non-diabetic controls in Hong Kong. A sample of 64 children (32 Type I diabetes mellitus, 32 age- and gender-matched controls) were included in the study. The study concluded that children with Type I diabetes had poor oral health status with greater plaque deposition when compared to healthy, non-diabetic controls. / published_or_final_version / Dental Surgery / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis involves development, execution and analyzing of the first of a two-part longitudinal study for use in researching and evaluating the 1980 advertising campaign sponsored by the Indiana Dental Association.The data for this analysis was derived from responses to a 501-person random telephone survey in eight Indiana cities. The results were used to determine the accuracy of the advertising campaign target audience as well as provide a basis for advertisement recognition in the post-test.

Increased levels of oestrogen and progesterone during pregnancy may lead to periodontal disease. The anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria called red complex (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythensis and Treponema denticola) are frequently associated with periodontal disease. Periodontopathogens produce toxins and enzymes which can enter the bloodstream and cross the placenta to harm the foetus. The response of the mother&rsquo / s immune system to infection by these periodontopathogens, brings about the release of inflammatory mediators which may trigger preterm labour or result in low birth-weight infants. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of red complex, using BANA and PCR in subginginval plaque samples from pregnant women. Subgingival plaque samples were obtained from pregnant women between the ages of 17 to 45 years attending a Mitchells Plain ante-natal clinic. Plaque samples were analyzed by the enzymatic BANA-test for detection of the presence of red complex and DNA was extracted and analyzed using 16 rDNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).<br /> <br /> Seventy-nine percent of pregnant women showed gingival index scores of &ge / 1 of which 74.24% harboured by at least one of the members of the red complex. P.gingivalis was the most prevalent of the three members of the red complex. Findings of this study confirmed a need for dental preventive measures in pregnant women and microbial monitoring of suspected periodontopathogenes. This could be achieved by joint cooperation between Maternity Obstetric Units (MOU), Dentistry and oral microbiology departments. The results of this study revealed that although PCR is more sensitive than BANA in detecting members of the red complex, BANA showed a better association with the indices used to diagnose periodontal disease.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2004.