Oral Hygiene Behavior of Croatian Adolescents during Fixed Orthodontic Treatment: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective

To investigate the impact of fixed orthodontic treatment on adolescents' oral hygiene behavior and to examine their food consuption during fixed orthodontic treatment, as well as their motivation to maintain oral hygiene.

Materials and methods

This research was carried out in a form of a survey questionnaire consisting of 23 questions. The sample comprised 170 adolescent patients aged from 11 to 19 who underwent the fixed orthodontic treatment at the Orthodontic Clinic of the Zagreb University Hospital Centre.

Results

The orthodontic appliance did not interfere with the patients’ maintenance of oral hygiene, but it made the consumption of certain foods more difficult. Most adolescents brushed their teeth twice a day, using medium-soft brushes (35%). Regarding additional oral hygiene aids, 72.4% of the respondents used interdental brushes, more than 50% of the respondents used antiseptic mouthwashes for mouth rinsing, whereas only 31.2% of the tested population used dental floss (4.1% of which daily). The respondents were highly motivated to maintain oral hygiene by their orthodontists (96.5%), but only a small number of the respondents were informed about the importance of an adequate diet while undergoing a fixed orthodontic treatment.

Conclusion

Orthodontists should provide their patients with detailed instructions on hygiene maintenance and adequate diet during orthodontic treatment to minimize negative side effects of the fixed orthodontic treatment. Patients should be motivated upon each follow-up examination and encouraged to use as many oral hygiene aids in their daily routines as possible.

Patients' and Parents' Concerns over Orthodontic Treatment during the COVID - 19 Pandemic

Objective

We aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the concern of adolescents in orthodontic treatment, and to determine whether personality traits and parental perception were predictors of adolescent patients' concerns.

Participants and methods

The sample consisted of 229 adolescent patients (57.2% female) and 223 parents (65.1% female). Questionnaires included items about the importance of infection control and concern about treatment duration and results. Their latent structure was determined using exploratory factor analysis. The Big Five Inventory was used for assessing personality traits. Predictors of patients' and parental orthodontic concern and awareness of the importance of infection control measures were tested by the hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

Results

Two factors were revealed for the patient questionnaire, Treatment concern (TC) and Awareness of the importance of measures (AM), and four factors for the parent questionnaire, Parents' treatment concern (PTC), Parents' awareness of the importance of measures (PAM), Parents' concern about the pandemic (PCP) and Parents' concern about their child with regards to the pandemic (PCC). Adolescents' personality traits were not predictors of either TC or AM. PTC was a predictor of TC (p<0.001), accounting for 28% of the variance. PAM and the patient's following of the news were predictors of AM (p≤0.022), accounting for 24% and 2% of the variance, respectively.

Conclusion

Parental concern and awareness of measures had an important role in attitudes of adolescent orthodontic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, while personality traits did not. The clinician should put additional emphasis on communication with the parent.

"Examining the link between tooth agenesis and papillary thyroid cancer: is there a risk factor?" Observational study

BACKGROUND

Mutations in one or multiple genes can lead to hypodontia and its characteristic features. Numerous studies have shown a strong genetic influence on the occurrence of hypodontia, and identified several genes, including AXIN2, EDA, FGF3, FGFR2, FGFR10, WNT10A, MSX1, and PAX9, that are directly associated with dental agenesis and carcinogenesis. The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence and pattern of tooth agenesis, microdontia, and palatally displaced canine (PDC) in women diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), compared to a control group of women without any malignancy or thyroid disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This case-control study was carried at the Department of Orthodontics, School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb, and Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Centre. The study involved a clinical examination and evaluation of dental status, panoramic X-ray analysis, and assessment of medical and family history of 116 female patients aged 20-40 with PTC, as well as 424 females in the control group who were of similar age.

RESULTS

The prevalence of hypodontia, microdontia, and PDC was statistically higher in women with PTC than in the control group. The prevalence rate of hypodontia was 11.3% in the experimental group and 3.5% in the control group. The experimental group showed a higher occurrence of missing upper lateral incisors, lower left central incisors, and all the third molars (except the upper left) compared to the control group. Women with PTC showed the prevalence of PDC significantly higher than the control group (3.5%, 0.7%, p = 0.002). The probability of hypodontia as a clinical finding increases 2.6 times, and microdontia occurs 7.7 times more frequently in women with PTC.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests a possible link between odontogenesis and PTC. The absence of permanent teeth may increase the likelihood of PTC in women. Leveraging the age-7 orthopantomogram to identify women at high risk for PTC within a critical early detection window could significantly improve oral health outcomes and PTC prognosis through proactive interventions.