Unveiling deception: Characterizing false amber necklace messages on Facebook

BACKGROUND

Messages promoting the benefits of amber necklaces for children are common on social media, despite their health risks.

AIM

This study characterized Facebook posts with false content about the efficacy of amber necklaces in teething.

DESIGN

A sample of 500 English-language Facebook posts was analyzed by two investigators to determine the motivations, author's profile, and sentiments of posts. Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling was used to identify salient terms and topics. An intertopic distance map was created to calculate the topic similarity. These data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test, Cramer's V test, and multiple logistic regression models, regarding the time since initial posting and interaction metrics.

RESULTS

Most posts were made by business profiles and expressed positive sentiments, with social, psychological, and financial motivations. The posts were categorized into the topics "giveaway," "healing features," and "sales." Overperforming scores and total interaction increased with time since the initial posting. Posts with links had higher overperforming scores.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that Facebook posts about the efficacy of amber necklaces in teething are motivated by financial interests, using psychological and social mechanisms to achieve greater interaction with their target audience.

Knowledge and management practices of infant teething symptoms among mothers in a tertiary facility in Ghana

Introduction

teething is a natural process that all infants go through, and most toddlers obtain their first tooth around six months. However, misconceptions about teething and its remedies are still prevalent. The study assessed the knowledge and management practices of infant teething symptoms among mothers whose children were admitted to the Pediatric ward of Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Methods

the study adopted a prospective descriptive cross-sectional design with a quantitative data collection method. A total of 251 mothers were selected using a convenient sampling strategy, and a structured questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results

the study found that 79.7% and 20.3% of respondents had good and poor knowledge of teething, respectively. Also, 65.3% and 34.7% of the mothers had good and poor practices, respectively, in the management of teething symptoms. Marital status (p= 0.029) and type of ward (p= 0.020) were significantly associated with mothers' knowledge of teething. Furthermore, mothers less than 30 years of age (OR, 2.07; 95% CI: 1.19-3.57; p= 0.009) and mothers with formal education (OR, 2.22; 95% CI: 1.22-3.81; p= 0.004) were more likely to have good management practices for teething symptoms.

Conclusion

most mothers have a good understanding of child teething, but they do not think delayed eruptions indicate systemic disease. They identified taking the child to the hospital during teething symptoms and administering Paracetamol to relieve the symptoms as standard practices. However, more education is needed to differentiate between teething signs and other ailments and to prevent substandard first aid practices during teething.

Parental beliefs in and attitudes toward teething signs and symptoms: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Parents believe that teething is associated with signs and symptoms, which may induce them to give medications that could harm their children. Some children may require alleviation of symptoms and overall attention.

AIM

To assess parents' beliefs in and attitudes toward teething.

DESIGN

Through electronic databases and gray literature, this systematic review identified cross-sectional studies reporting parents' beliefs in, knowledge about, and attitudes toward the signs and symptoms of primary tooth eruption in children aged between 0 and 36 months. Three reviewers independently selected the studies, collected the information, assessed methodological quality, and checked for accuracy with disagreements solved by a fourth reviewer. The Agency of Research and Quality in Health questionnaire for cross-sectional studies was used for quality assessment. Descriptive analysis with median and interquartile ranges was adopted.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine studies comprising 10 524 participants from all geographic regions were included. The methodological quality of the studies was moderate. Most parents have beliefs in signs and symptoms during dentition, the most reported symptom being the desire to bite. Oral rehydration was the most exposed attitude in the studies included. Only a small proportion of parents reported no attitude.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of parents believed in at least one sign or symptom associated with teething, and only few of them would do nothing or just wait for the signs or symptoms to pass, with no difference among countries (Protocol doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/S2KZ3).

Soft Bite Appliance for Teething Infants

Mother's milk is a biological secretion that provides the best nutritional source with numerous benefits to the infant, which include somatic growth, modulation of post-natal intestinal function, brain development, and immune ontogeny. As per WHO, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months and continuation up to two years of age as both mother and the infant are mutually benefitted. Breast milk contains more nutritional, hormonal, and growth factors which are mandatory for the baby to attain the highest standards of health. Many mothers encounter bite injuries in their nipples and areola while feeding due to the teething process, which usually starts six months after birth. This may cause injury to the mother's skin causing inconvenience in feeding. This can be avoided by fabricating a "soft bite appliance" for the infant, which prevents bite injuries and makes both the baby and mother feel comfortable during feeding. This device can be used as a temporary device during the teething process, thereby enhancing nursing mothers to continue the feeding process without anxiety.

Comparison of the opinions and attitudes of medical doctors, dentists and mothers toward teething symptoms

BACKGROUND

The signs and symptoms associated with teething can be local or systemic. It remains unclear whether the disturbances are caused by the eruption of primary teeth or whether they simply coincide with tooth eruption. Parents and healthcare professionals can have different perceptions about teething symptoms, especially in different cultural or socio-economic contexts.

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to compare the opinions and attitudes of medical doctors, dentists and mothers toward the symptoms of teething.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Data about the signs and symptoms was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed in December 2019 to 800 randomly selected medical doctors and dentists working in the Central Aegean Region of Turkey. Mothers of children aged 0-3 years who were referred to the pediatric department were selected for the study. Data from 199 medical doctors (109 family physicians, 90 pediatricians), 293 dentists (169 general dentists, 124 pediatric dentists) and 352 mothers who completed the questionnaire was included in the study. The data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows program.

RESULTS

Each participant identified at least one symptom related to teething. Statistically significant differences were found between the 3 groups in terms of symptoms except for stomach ache (p < 0.05). Gingival irritation was the most common symptom among dentists (95.6%) and mothers (70.7%), while irritability was the most common symptom among medical doctors (90.5%). Mothers believed to a greater extent than the other groups that fever, vomiting and cough were associated with teething (p < 0.05), whereas medical doctors tended to point to drooling, irritability, biting/chewing, diarrhea, and ear rubbing more often than the other groups (p < 0.05). In addition, sleep disturbance and loss of appetite were associated with teething less frequently by mothers as compared to the other groups (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, medical doctors, dentists and mothers reported unproven and controversial associations between teething and certain local or systemic symptoms. Mothers especially were more likely to believe that systemic symptoms that can be confused with other serious diseases were associated with teething.

Gehrig Brothers Electo-motor Teething Necklace

Victorian era patent medicines to soothe discomfort from teething infants worked well because they contained dangerous pain killing drugs such as narcotics and alcohol. Relief from teething discomfort can also be achieved for a teething infant by the baby chewing on various objects such as hard teething rings or teething necklaces. This report offers some historical perspective on infant teething and describes and pictures a well-marketed German teething necklace of the 19th century.

[The research of the connective tissue dysplasia effect on dental eruption and hard tissues mineralization]

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the quality of 38, 48 teeth's hard tissues at different eruption stages and mandibular bone in different postpartum ontogenesis periods.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The research involved 102 male patients divided into groups according to their age: 15-20, 21-30 years old, they were extracted one tooth 38, 48 without inflammatory process signs and a fragment of the mandibular bone alveolar part in the projection of the teeth 38, 48 for orthodontic indications. In the comparison group (49 observations without signs of connective tissue dysplasia), in the study group (53 observations with signs of connective tissue dysplasia) we extracted teeth 38, 48 which were in the bone tissue. We analyzed condition of crown and root systems of extracted 38, 48 teeth, densitometric density of mineral component, size of enamel prisms, size of prismatic shells of organic matrix, spatial organization of collagen fibers in bone tissue, size characteristics of bone plates and mineralization centers of bone tissue. Processing of the obtained data was performed by methods of variation statistics using standard packages Microsoft Excel 2008, Statistica 12.0.

RESULTS

The paper reveals one of the surgical dentistry pressing issues related to the tething mechanism of lower human wisdom teeth, considered by the authors from the position of tissue disorders in collagen type 1 observed in connective tissue dysplasia. At age of 15-20 years in connective tissue dysplasia, the enamel prisms hypomineralized areas are generalized; at age of 21-30 years the hypomineralized areas are characterized by local changes. At the age of 15-20 years in connective tissue dysplasia the bone plates splitting is observed at the level of most fibrils, collagen fibers have insufficiently oriented direction in contrast to the age group of 21-30 years where bone plates splitting is characteristic for single fibrils and collagen fibrils are clearly oriented.

CONCLUSION

Morphological and histological changes in teeth 38, 48 and in bone tissue prevent correct and timely teething at 15-20 years and create more favorable conditions for teething at 21-30 years with a slower rate in connective tissue dysplasia, but in both groups teeth eruption occurs under unfavorable anatomic conditions.

Dog Stick Chewing: An Overlooked Instance of Tool Use?

Tool use is a central topic in research on cognitive evolution and behavioral ecology in non-human animals. Originally thought to be a uniquely human phenomenon, many other species have been observed making and using tools for a variety of purposes, starting with Goodall's (1964) groundbreaking work with chimpanzees in Gombe. Despite the frequent attention and great research interest in animal tool use, and ubiquity of the behavior, we argue here that chewing sticks by dogs (and other animals) should be included as a case of tool use. We discuss alternate possible explanations and then propose several testable predictions regarding this hypothesis. We suggest that tool use may be more common than is often assumed and that many cases of animal tool use may be overlooked.

Mothers' false beliefs and myths associated with teething

BACKGROUND

Teething is a physiological process experienced by all children. However, many unrelated illnesses are blamed on teething.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess mothers' beliefs toward teething and to investigate the practices preferred by mothers to alleviate symptoms that might accompany the teething process.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Basra. The study population includes mothers of young children aged (6-30) months who had at least one erupted primary tooth, and who had no history of medical or systemic disease that might affect teething. Two hundred mothers of different age groups and educational backgrounds responded to a questionnaire that included information on the child's age and birth order, mother's age, level of education, occupation, number of children, beliefs toward teething symptoms, and the practices preferred to relieve the attributed symptoms. Data has been presented in numbers and percentages, the Chi-square test was performed where appropriate, and a p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

All (100%) participants attributed at least one symptom or sign to the teething process. The most common symptoms reported were fever (70%), diarrhea (68.5%), and sleep disturbance (63.5%). Sixty-eight percent of mothers believed teething remedies were effective; only 10 (5%) did not give any treatment. Over half (62%) gave medications, such as antipyretics, antibiotics, and antidiarrheal agents. Some used teething gels (29%), pacifiers (50%), gum massage (22%), and hard foods such as biscuits and carrots (43.5%). Mothers of various educational levels reported attributed symptoms, and the result was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Mothers of a firstborn child were found to have a higher tendency to attribute symptoms to teething than those who had previous experience with children (p < 0.05).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Teething myths and misconceptions are common among mothers. The study identified a significant number of doctors, dentists, and pharmacists still attribute many symptoms and signs to teething despite the lack of supporting evidence. Therefore, the findings of this study highlight the need for continuous medical education and nationwide prospective studies to eradicate these false beliefs.

Teeth: Small but Mighty and Mighty Important. A Comprehensive Review of Children's Dental Health for Primary Care Clinicians

Healthy teeth allow us to eat and stay well-nourished. Although primary care clinicians receive limited training about teeth, given the common nature of dental problems, it is important that they understand and recognize normal and abnormal dental conditions and can implement primary and secondary prevention of dental conditions in their practice. PubMed has been used to search the scientific literature for evidence on the following topics: normal dental development, dental abnormalities, malocclusion, teething, dental caries and related epidemiology and prevention, fluoride, dental injury and its management and prevention; and identification, prevention and treatment of gingivitis and periodontal disease. Literature review relied on randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and Cochrane reviews when relevant and available. Other sources of evidence included cohort and case-control studies. Consensus statements and expert opinion were used when there was a paucity of high-quality research studies. The literature has been synthesized on these topics to make them relevant to pediatric primary care clinicians, and as available, the strength of evidence has been characterized when making clinical recommendations.

Applicability of teeth examination as a tool for age estimation in a semi-arid cattle production environment in Namibia

Regression analysis was used to evaluate teeth examination as a tool for estimating age in beef and dairy cattle at Neudamm farm, Namibia, in 2018. There was a significant difference in age (months) between the overall mean actual age (M=60, SD=4.57) and the mean estimated age (M=57, SD=4.52 months) in beef cattle; t(74) = 3.61, p<0.001. There was no significant difference between the overall mean estimated age and the mean actual age (M=42.5, SD=5.18) and (M=41.3, SD=5.21 months) in dairy cattle; t(30) = 1.45, p=0.16. There was a very strong positive relationship between the overall teeth examination-estimated age and actual age in beef cattle [r (74) = 0.98, p<0.001]. There was a very strong positive relationship between the overall teeth examination-estimated age and actual age in dairy cattle [r (30) = 0.99, p<0.001]. A very strong positive relationship was also evident between the teeth examination-estimated age and actual age in beef cattle aged 45 months and below [r (37) = 0.93, p<0.001]. There was a very strong positive relationship between the teeth examination-estimated and actual age in dairy cattle aged 45 months and below [r (20) = 0.97, p<0.001]. There was a very strong positive relationship between the teeth examination-estimated age and actual age in beef cattle aged over 45 months [r (35) = 0.93, p<0.001]. There was a very strong positive relationship between the teeth examination-estimated age and actual age in dairy cattle aged over 45 months [r (8) = 0.97, p<0.001]. It was therefore concluded that under the given conditions of the study and the range of ages and the breeds under study, age estimation through teeth examination is reliably applicable for aging cattle in general. Age estimation through teeth examination was found to be more accurate in dairy than in beef cattle.

Evaluation of Levels of Proinflammatory Chemokines MIP-1α and MIP-1β in Gingival Crevicular Fluid of Primary, Mixed and Permanent Dentition

Aim:

This study aims to find out the proinflammatory chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and MIP-1β levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of primary, mixed, and permanent dentitions.

Materials and Methods:

GCF of 160 individuals (4–15 years of age) was collected by the extracrevicular method. They were categorized into four groups (40 per each group). Group I: subjects with primary dentition (4–5 years of age), Group II: 40 subjects in early transition period (6–8 years), Group III: 40 individuals in the late transition period (9–11 years), and Group IV: 40 individuals with permanent dentition (12–15 years). MIP-lα and MIP-1β levels were determined in the samples of GCF by ELISA method. Data were analyzed by software SPSS Version 20 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY: USA).

Results:

MIP-1α and MIP-1β were detected in all samples. The highest mean MIP-1α and MIP-1β concentrations in GCF were detected in the early transition period, while the lowest concentrations were seen in primary dentition group. The chemokine levels were higher in girls than in boys in Group III. There was a substantial rise of MIP-1α and MIP-1β levels during eruption.

Conclusions:

Since levels of MIP-1α and MIP-1β in GCF are positively associated with tooth eruption, they may perhaps be deemed as novel biomarkers in the eruption process.

Teething

Misconceptions about the teething process has led to high infant morbidity and mortality, which was recently experienced in Nigeria due to consumption of an adulterated drug used in the prevention and treatment of teething-related illnesses in infants. It is however, unknown if these misconceptions still persist in a rural town in Nigeria despite oral health awareness campaigns targeted at this. The aim of this study is to assess the beliefs and practices of residents in Igbo Ora, a rural township in Nigeria, regarding the teething process. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 393 adults in Igbo Ora using a 33-item, semistructured questionnaire. Symptoms such as diarrhea (80.7%), fever (69.2%), and boils (64.4%) were still considered as a must to accompany teething. Teething powder, teething syrup, and traditional concoctions were commonly recommended by (42.0%), (31.6%), and (48.1%) of the respondents, respectively, to treat and prevent teething symptoms. This study revealed that misconceptions about teething are still highly prevalent among the populace in Igbo Ora, and a structured oral health education intervention at the community level is urgently needed.

Amber necklaces: reasons for use and awareness of risk associated with bacterial colonisation

Parents are increasingly placing amber necklaces on their infants or toddlers to prevent teething pain. The use of the necklaces can pose a risk of death by strangulation, however, there are no data on the potential infectious risk linked to bacterial colonisation associated with the necklaces. We aimed to analyse bacterial colonisation of amber necklaces worn by children during hospital consultations. This prospective observational study included all children wearing a teething necklace at consultation in the Paediatric Dermatology and the Paediatric Emergency Department of our hospital from April to December 2014. The study included 27 children (median age: 10.7 months; 70.4% female). The surface of necklaces underwent bacteriological analyses using three different agar cultures. Parents completed a brief questionnaire to provide reasons for using necklaces and express awareness of risks. One child had a history of impetigo. All necklaces were colonised by bacteria (median: four species per necklace [range: 1-9]); 32 different species were found, the most frequent being coagulase-negative staphylococci (Staphylococcus epidermidis in 88.9% of cases). In three cases, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus was found. The most frequent reason for wearing a necklace was to prevent teething pain (n = 17; 63.0%); the necklace was judged effective (moderately/highly effective) in 74.1% of cases, however, 70.4% of parents considered the use of the necklace to be risky. Amber necklaces may be highly colonised by commensal germs of the skin, mainly coagulase-negative staphylococci. Although these bacteria are saprophytes, they may become pathogenic in particular conditions.

The Internet versus pediatricians as a source of infant teething information for parents in Turkey

OBJECTIVES

Parents are increasingly searching the Internet to gather information about their children's health care. This study compared infant teething information obtained from publically employed pediatricians in Istanbul with that obtained from different Turkish websites (parenting, health, professional, news and commercial).

METHODS

This study had two parts. The first part used a descriptive design, with two checklists to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of the teething-specific content on 62 parenting or health websites. The second part was a cross-sectional study of 75 pediatricians at public hospitals who completed a structured self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTS

In total, 54 websites (87.1%) described infant teething as a normal developmental process. The lists that were found on the websites identified the most frequent signs of infant teething as fever and drooling/perioral rash. The most frequent management strategies were chewing non-chilled and chilled objects. For teething problems, some pediatricians recommended teething rings and oral benzocaine, while 23 pediatricians recommended nothing.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents should be informed by health professionals, especially regarding specific treatment strategies.

Infant teething information on the world wide web: taking a byte out of the search

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate the quality of infant teething information on selected popular parenting Web sites.

METHODS

Two checklists were used to evaluate the quality of the 16 parenting sites and infant teething-specific content included on each site.

FINDINGS

Three of the 16 parenting sites did not contain teething-specific articles. Teething-specific content found on 13 of the 16 sites supported a connection between the process of teething and nonspecific symptoms with a perception that management is required. Popular management strategies included chewing on chilled objects, gingival massage, and the use of over-the-counter medications. Information about possible adverse effects of administering medications for infant teething was not found on the majority of sites. Eleven of the 16 sites advised parents to contact their primary care provider if they were uncertain about management for infant teething or whether the symptoms were related to illness.

IMPLICATIONS

Although infant teething has an evidence base from which parents and professionals can make safe decisions about symptoms and treatment, translating the evidence into professional practice and health-related information on the Internet remains a challenge. Parents and pediatric health providers would benefit greatly from the development of clinical practice guidelines summarizing our present-day understanding of teething symptoms and the limited evidence supporting the use of over-the-counter medications.

Teething myths among nursing mothers in a Nigerian community

Background:

Many symptoms had been associated with teething in children with the possibility of overlooking potentially fatal condition. Symptoms that had been associated with teething include diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and cough. The possibility that any of these symptoms could have been due to other causes call for thorough investigation of the child before concluding that it is only “teething”.

Objectives:

The study was carried out to assess the beliefs of nursing mothers concerning symptoms that are associated with teething among children and to identify those that would seek medical treatments in case of their children having such symptoms during teething.

Materials and Methods:

Two hundred and ninety nursing mothers whose children had erupted at least a tooth were interviewed in the immunisation clinics of the University College Hospital and Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, both in Ibadan, Nigeria, on their beliefs and practice concerning teething in children.

Results:

One hundred and eighty-eight (64.8%) of the mothers associated symptoms such as fever, cough, catarrh and diarrhoea with eruption of teeth in their children. Over half of the women agreed that a child having either fever (51.0%), ear infection (57.6%) or cough (50.3%) should be promptly taken for medical consultation and not be tagged “teething”, while for other symptoms such as gum pain (74.5%), sleepless night (56.6%), vomiting (51.4%) and diarrhoea (51.7%), over half of the mothers believed that the symptoms will resolve following the eruption of the teeth.

Conclusion:

The study demonstrated that mothers in the study attributes several symptoms to teething, which could be detrimental to the survival of their children as the symptom could have been due to other causes. There is, therefore, need for public enlightenment to create awareness on the possible effect of presumptuous belief that childhood diseases are due to teething process.