Exploring Jordanian children and parents' awareness, behavior, and perception of pediatric oral health

BACKGROUND

To evaluate children's and parents' practice and attitude toward oral hygiene and their knowledge about oral hygiene.

METHODS

This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted on randomly selected children who were seen in the Pediatric dentistry clinic in different Royal Medical Services hospitals. A modified questionnaire was used to gather information from the child or parents to gather the child's demographic data and evaluate the children's and parents' practice and attitude toward oral hygiene, their knowledge about oral hygiene, information about the parent and family, and oral examination, the questionnaire questions' reliability and validity were assessed by test-retest and Cronbach's Alpha test.

RESULTS

Three hundred seventy four patients were included, and the average age was 5.06 ± 3.58 SD years. Children's and parents' practice toward oral hygiene was inadequate where the majority (83.3%) brush their teeth occasionally, change their toothbrushes infrequently, apply toothpaste inappropriately, and less than half (47.2%) clean their tongue after teeth brushing. A significant number (73%) of candidates were aware that oral health has a significant role in their general health and can prevent dental problems. Participants agreed that maintaining a healthy mouth is an individual responsibility. The majority of participants came from large family size (the average family members 6.1 ± 1.7 SD) who live below the poverty line.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that awareness of oral health status in children below the age of 12 was poor. Although their oral knowledge was good their attitude and behavior were inadequate. These findings urge the need for expanded, well-organized, preventive educational programs that include school's syllabus, house visits, and hospitals for parents and children alike.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis: A case report with oral manifestations and the role of pediatric dentists in the diagnosis

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a benign disease that behaves malignantly. Early recognition and treatment of oral manifestation of LCH by pediatric dentist and other medical specialties is important to prevent further organ damage.

Prickly pear spine keratoconjunctivitis

Objectives:

To study the ocular and extra-ocular features, clinical presentation, and treatment of prickly pear glochids.

Materials and Methods:

This retrospective study included 23 eyes of 21 patients with ocular prickly pear spines who were seen between August and October 2011 in the outpatient ophthalmic clinic at Prince Rashid Bin Al Hassan military hospital in Jordan. Medical records of patients including age, gender, history of exposure to prickly pear plants, and ocular examination were reviewed. All glochids were localized and removed with forceps under topical anesthesia with the patient at the slit lamp. Patients were followed up after one week.

Results:

The mean age of patients was 37.1 years with a male to female ratio of 1.6: 1. Involvement of the right eye was seen in 61.9% patients, left eye in 28.6% patients, and bilateral involvement in 9.5% patients. Glochids were most commonly found in the upper subtarsal conjunctival space (47.6%) followed by inferior palpebral conjunctiva in 23.8% eyes. The most common complaint was eye irritation in 95.2% patients. Pain was a complaint in 57.1% patients. Superior corneal epithelial erosions or ulcer were found in 33.3% patients, inferior corneal epithelial erosions in 19.1% patients, and diffuse epithelial erosions in 9.5% patients. Glochids were found in other parts of the body in 38.1% patients.

Conclusion:

Although prickly pear glochid ocular surface injury is not uncommon in the region during summer, it should be considered in patient with eye pain during that period. Farmers who are in close contact with prickly pears should use protective eyeglasses and gloves.