Background: Melanin pigmentation of the gingiva occurs in all ethnicities. Excessive pigmentation is an esthetic concern that has increased awareness about depigmentation procedures. The purpose of the present study is to correlate skin color and gender with intensity and distribution of gingival melanin pigmentation in a group of South Indians for treatment strategies. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 male and female non-smoking healthy subjects were included aged 18-35 years. A clinical examination of gingiva was performed to assess the anatomic distribution of gingival pigmentation. The intensity of gingival pigmentation and phenotype of gingiva were also assessed. Subsequently, the skin color was visually examined and assessed as fair, wheatish brown and dark. Results: Six classes of gingival pigmentation were defined based on the anatomic distribution. Gingival pigmentation was observed as highest being in the attached gingiva and interdental papilla (25.4%) and least being in the marginal gingiva and interdental papilla (10.2%). Correlation between skin color and intensity of pigmentation was statistically significant, with dark skinned subjects having heavy gingival pigmentation. However, no correlation was found between gender and phenotype of the gingiva with intensity and distribution of pigmentation. Conclusion: South Indians predominantly have pigmentation in attached gingiva and interdental papilla and their skin color is positively correlated with the intensity of pigmentation. Incidence of pigmentation did not differ between the sexes. Majority of subjects had thick gingival phenotype. Anatomic delineation of gingival pigmentation and their contributory factors may help design treatment strategies in depigmentation procedures.

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Background: An epidemiological investigation was carried out to know the prevalence of Dental Caries amongst schoolchildren in Kannur District, Kerala. Materials and Methods: The criteria used for diagnosing caries were according to the World Health Organizations (1997). All data were entered into the SPSS program and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The point prevalence of dental caries was recorded to be 49.44% with an average DMFT/deft of 2.63. The prevalence of caries showed a pattern of occurrence consistently increased from 5-7 years to 8-10 years age group and subsequently decreased at 11-14 years age. Regarding treatment needs, 66.19% children required dental treatment for dental caries. Conclusion: The study revealed that caries component of decayed, missing, filled/deft index was high at 90.01% indicating that many carious teeth were left untreated and this calls for concern.

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Regional odontodysplasia (RO) is an uncommon developmental anomaly affecting a localized area of the dentition; which presents with distinctive clinical and radiographical findings. Clinically, the affected teeth are often grossly hypoplastic with abnormal morphology. They often tend to develop abscess soon after eruption. Radiographically, they have a typical "ghost-like" appearance. Although extractions are often required, in some milder cases the teeth may be retained for a long period. The treatment plan should be based on the degree of involvement as well as functional and esthetic needs in each case. This article describes a classical report of a 3.5-year-old female with RO.

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Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. It permeates all ethnic, cultural and socio-economic segments of our society. Child abuse is a vicious cycle in which victims are at higher risk of becoming abusive parent repeating their childhood experiences. Studies have shown that approximately 60-75% of abused children have injuries to the head, face and mouth. Dentists are in the unique position to be able to diagnose these cases. The complete information about child abuse has been collected from various journals, books, online databases and various reports from international conferences for the time period of 1988-2012. This article presents an overview of child abuse, its types, identification and reporting of cases of abuse.

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The aim of this case report is to present the clinical management of mandibular first molar with three separate mesial canals including independent middle mesial canal and an extra distal root; radix entomolaris (RE). The left mandibular first molar of a male patient was a root canal treated. Mesiobuccal and mesiolingual canals were found in their normal locations. Third canal; the middle mesial canal was identified after a thorough examination of the pulpal floor under the operating microscope. Radiographically, it ended in its own distinct foramen. In addition, an extra distal root; RE was also present. Therefore, five canals (mesiobuccal, middle mesial, mesiolingual, distobuccal and distolingual) were identified, instrumented and obturated to the accepted lengths. Many reports deal with three orifices in the mesial root, but very few describe three independent canals and RE within the same tooth, indicating a rare anatomical configuration.

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The ectodermal dysplasias (EDs) comprise a large, heterogeneous group of inherited disorders that are defined by primary defects in the development of two or more tissues derived from embryonic ectoderm. Patients with this disease often need complex prosthetic treatment. The physiologic and psychosocial value of prosthetic dental treatment increases all the more in very young patients, in which absence of teeth can negatively affect psychological and social growth of child. This clinical report describes the prosthetic management of a 4-year-old child patient with ED.

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Juvenile ossifying fibroma (JOF) is an uncommon, benign, yet aggressive fibro-osseous lesion of the jaws commonly occurring in children and young adults and affects equally both males and females. Maxilla is affected more often than mandible. Two microscopically distinct types of JOF, trabecular and psammomatoid varieties have been described, of which latter being more common. A clinical case of psammomatoid variant of JOF (PsJOF) involving the right side of maxilla of a 45-year-old female patient is discussed herewith, encompassing a thorough knowledge of clinical, radiological, and histopathological features.

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Osteochondroma is one of the most common benign tumors of the skeleton, but osteochondroma of the mandibular condyle is relatively rare and may cause signs and symptoms similar to those seen in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction. This article aims to describe a case of osteochondroma of the mandibular condyle in a 30-year-old male with complaints of facial asymmetry, crossbite to the contralateral side, changes in condylar morphology, and malocclusion. Generally, management of these lesions includes total condylectomy or local resection. Conservative condylectomy with reshaping of the remaining condylar neck and repositioning of the articular disk was performed on the patient who is presently on routine follow-ups.

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Gingival overgrowth is one of the most undesirable consequences that often lead to severe aesthetic changes and compromised oral hygiene maintenance. Giant cell granuloma is among the localized growths, considered to be reactive rather than neoplastic in nature. It is relatively a benign, nonodontogenic lesion of oral cavity. It is a reactive response to local irritations and trauma that may be of central or peripheral type. The purpose of this article is to report the clinical, histopathological features and treatment of a case of peripheral giant cell granuloma arising from maxillary anterior alveolus in a 37-year-old male. The lesion was completely excised to the periosteum level and there was no recurrence or bony defect apparent in the area of biopsy after a follow-up period of 8 months. Proper plaque control and effective oral hygiene can reduce its severity or prevent its occurrence.

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Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a self-etching primer (SEP Adper Prompt L-pop; 3M ESPE) on the shear bond strength of a conventional light cure composite resin (Transbond XT primer) in the dry state. Materials and Methods: Forty Freshly extracted human premolar teeth extracted for orthodontic purpose were collected and divided into two groups and mounted on colour coded acrylic blocks. Premolar brackets were bonded using a conventional light cure composite resin and primer in Group I and a self-etch primer was used in Group II. The shear bond strength was evaluated using Instron Universal Testing Machine with an occlusal shear force applied directly onto the enamel-bracket interface with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Results: No statistically significant difference were observed in the bond strengths of the two groups evaluated. Conclusion: These results indicated the SEP evaluated showed satisfactory bond strength and is potentially adequate for orthodontic bonding needs.

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Lipoma is a benign tumor of adipose tissue and one of the most common benign neoplasms of the body. One type of soft-tissue lesions of the oral cavity is lipoma. However, its occurrence in the oral cavity is very rare. It commonly occurs in the trunk and extremities. Lipoma accounts for only 1-4% of the intraoral soft tissue lesions. The intraoral site of occurence includes buccal mucosa, floor of the mouth and tongue. Here, we present a case of an intraoral lipoma in a 30-year-old young male patient. After 3 years follow-up, patients showed no signs of recurrence.

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