Faculty Bibliography

The effect upon dental health knowledge and dental health behavior of a comprehensive and a less comprehensive preventive program was compared in a 3-yr follow up study. The comprehensive program included active participation of the students and parental involvement. The study group consisted of 186 Brazilian schoolchildren 13 yr of age at the start of the program. A reference group from another school of similar socioeconomic level was included in the analyses. The data were collected from questionnaires filled in by the children under surveillance after the completion of the program. Significant differences in knowledge as well as in reported behavior were observed. The children enrolled in the comprehensive program in general scored higher in dental health knowledge than did those in the less comprehensive program. However, the latter group of children seemed to have acquired more correct knowledge during the period than had the control and reference children. Similar results were obtained concerning reported dental health behavior.

We studied the periodontal disease progression and the relationship between some forms of destructive periodontitis in a group of Brazilian adolescents with high prevalence of periodontal destruction, and evaluated the adequacy of reducing data by limiting the measurement of disease to first molars and by aggregating and pooling site-scores into subject-level scores. Over a period of 3 years 222 adolescents were examined annually by bite-wing radiographs. Individuals displaying arc-shaped bone lesions adjacent to greater than or equal to 2 first molars were diagnosed as juvenile periodontitis (JP) patients, while those with greater than or equal to 1 first molars showing vertical lesions were regarded as periodontal risk subjects. Teenagers with greater than or equal to 2 first molars exhibiting longitudinal bone loss were defined as high-risk patients. At the ages of 13 and 16 years, 3 (1.3%) and 4 (1.8%) subjects had JP, while 12 (5.4%) and 28 (12.6%) were regarded as periodontal risks; 8 (3.6%) subjects were assigned to the high-risk group; 4 (1.8%) 13-year olds had greater than or equal to 1 first molars missing; hence, no loss of posterior teeth occurred over a period of 3 years. Analyzing the data at the site-level revealed progressive loss and little fluctuation in the alveolar bone height in the high-risk group, and a more pronounced bone loss at the mesial than at the distal surfaces. Simpler data sets were constructed by aggregating some of the site-scores or by pooling these into subject-level scores.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of salivary Streptococcus mutans in Brazilian schoolchildren, and its possible correlation with caries prevalence. A positive correlation between different levels of S. mutans and caries prevalence was observed, individuals with high levels of S. mutans (greater than 100 colonies) had a DMFS significantly higher than those with low or no detectable S. mutans (0, 1-20, 21-40 colonies).

The effect of 1 to 5 doses of 15,000 I.U. of vitamin A on some enzymes of the carbohydrate metabolism in gingival tissue from rats was studied. Vitamin A feeding resulted in a significant increase in the activities of hexokinase and pyruvate kinase with the different doses tested. A reduction in the activity of phosphofructokinase was observed with 2 and 4 doses. The administration of ascorbic acid along with vitamin A, did not prevent the effects of vitamin A on the activities of the enzymes studied. The data on the enzyme activities in the groups simultaneously fed on vitamin A and cortisol may indicate an additive effect of these compounds.