Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) via oral route is considered to be uncommon. Several factors at mucosal surfaces and in saliva may play roles in local defense against the viral infection of target cells. The objective of this article was to review local innate immunity that contributes to the oral resistance against HIV-1. Oral epithelial cells play significant roles in local innate immunity. They provide physical barrier and also produce antimicrobial peptides that possess anti-HIV-1 activity. This article described mechanisms of HIV-1 transmission, role of epithelial cells and antiviral mechanisms in the oral cavity including human beta-defensins (hBDs) in HIV-1 transmission at mucosal surfaces.

Osteoporosis commonly in postmenopausal women often results in a fracture of their bone. Many patients with no previous diagnosis of osteoporosis had osteoporotic fracture. It is interesting that these women may receive dental treatment from dentists more frequently than visiting medical practitioners for the problem osteoporosis. If a dentist can take the greatest benefit from a panoramic radiograph, osteoporosis may be early detected. Then, the patient could be referred to a medical specialist in order to prevent the complications of osteoporosis. The purposes of this study were to review the role of panoramic radiograph in routine dental treatment for an initial evaluation of osteoporosis and to discuss the reliability and accuracy of reported panoramic indices. The review of literature found that mandibular bone thickness or porosity on panoramic radiograph can be divided into five indices; mental index, panoramic mandibular index, gonial index, antigonial index and Klemetti index. The sensitivity and specificity of these indices for osteoporosis diagnosis ranged from medium to high. These indices were repeatable and effective even in untrained general dental practitioners, and can be used worldwide. However, some studies suggested to use the panoramic radiograph along with other clinical examinations for the diagnosis of osteoporosis because there are several factors affect the diagnosis of osteoporosis including the quality of radiograph. In conclusion, evaluation of mandibular cortical thickness or the shape of inferior cortex of the mandible measured from panoramic radiograph was a simple technique in osteoporosis screening of dental patients, giving the maximum benefit of being radiographed. All indices for detecting osteoporosis on panoramic radiograph are reliable, repeatable, and beneficial for dental patients. Therefore, dentists should be aware of these indices while interpretating pano- ramic radiographs.

Streptococcus mutans is considered as a main causative pathogen of dental caries, also known to cause bacteremia and infective endocarditis. Nowadays, this bacterium has been classified into 4 serotypes based on the difference of rhamnose-glucose antigens on its cell wall. The major serotype in oral cavity is serotype c, followed by serotype e and f, respectively. As for serotype k, this serotype has been recently discovered, and its prevalence in oral cavity also seems low. Evidence has shown various defects of adhesion proteins on the cell surface of minor serotype S. mutans. In contrast, these strains possess the ability to cause prolonged bacteremia as well as the property to adhere well to the defective parts of the heart. Thus, the difference in serotypes might be associated with quality and role of pathogenesis mechanisms of this bacterium.

Early childhood caries (ECC) is an important problem at the national and community levels of Thailand. Not only ECC is related to the biological factors, but it is also related to social and cultural factors which influencing child rearing process. The objective of this study was to study social and cultural factors that influence child rearing process related to the oral health of children aged 0-3 years in Thai-Buddhist and Thai-Muslim rubber plant growers’ community in one village in Thepa district, Songkhla province. A qualitative study using case studies method was performed. Nine families (4 Thai-Buddhist and 5 Thai-Muslim families) were included in the study. The results showed that social and cultural factors influencing child rearing process in this community included: 1) the “Forty release” value, causing short breast feeding period in Thai–Buddhists (20 days to 5 months), 2) “Respect of the elderly” value, influencing their child rearing process to follow the beliefs and practices of their mothers and ancestors, and 3) the belief that “Right breast is tissue, left breast is water”, causing the mothers to not realize the need for having their children drink water after drinking their breast milk. In addition, the way of life of the rubber plant growers made mothers have less time to take care of their children between early morning and noon because they had to work in the rubber plantations. The easy access to the grocery store in the village and the giving of snacks to the children by their siblings and relations influenced frequent snack consumption of children. These factors were not significantly different between Thai-Buddhists and Thai-Muslims except the value of “Forty release”, which influenced Thai-Buddhists more than Thai-Muslims in this study. The limitation of this study was that few case studies in only one small village were included in the study. Therefore, it cannot be generalized, but it may be transferable to a similar population. However, the results of this study indicate that the influence of social and cultural factors on the child-rearing process should be considered when conducting preventive and promotive oral health programs for children aged 0-3 years. Further qualitative studies in other communities and quantitative studies with larger sample sizes are suggested.

In clinical situations, the bonded interface between tooth substrate and resin-based composite is inevitably subjected to stresses immediately after its placement. The present study aims to evaluate and compare the bond strengths of two self-etch adhesives to enamel measured immediately and 24 hours after placement. Intact, non-carious, non-restored human permanent molars were mesio-distally sectioned into halves. Each half was mounted into stone plaster with middle enamel surface exposed to the environment. The enamel surfaces were ground flat with abrasive paper and restored with resin-based composite using either Clearfil Tri-S Bond or Clearfil SE Bond. Microshear bond strengths were assessed immediately or 24 hours later. Bond strength data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA. The fractured surfaces were observed under stereomicroscope and failure mode frequencies were compared using the Chi-square test. Representative enamel surfaces after each adhesive treatment were examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM). No statistically significant difference in shear bond strengths was detected between the two adhesives (p = .224);however, significantly lower values were revealed at the time immediately afterresin-based composite placement (p < .001) as compared to 24 hours later. Immediately after placement, Clearfil Tri-S Bond specimens were more likely to have failure pathway in adhesive layer than Clearfil SE Bond specimens (p = .001). Under SEM observations, both adhesives created rough enamel surfaces after treatments with acidic monomers.From the results of this study, it can be concluded that enamel bonding effectiveness of both self-etch adhesives was not different; however from each other, shear bond strengths measured immediately were shown to be lower than those measured 24 hours afterward. 256 J Dent Assoc Thai Vol. 59 No. 4 October-December 2009

One of the strategies to reduce the number of smoking-related deaths was to encourage the involvement of health professionals in tobacco control and cessation counselling. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Global Health Professionals Survey (GHPS) to collect data on tobacco use and tobacco control among health-profession students. The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of cigarette smoking and other tobacco products use, knowledge and attitudes about tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, desire for smoking cessation, training received regarding patient counselling on smoking-cessation technique, and dentists’ role in reducing tobacco use in dental offices. The self-administered questionnaires were sent to 8,266 dentists and 1,522 dental assistants by mail. Dentist response rate was 20.7%, and dental assistant response rate was 40.5%. The findings indicated that current cigarette smoking among these dental professionals was 2.4% (dentist rate and dental assistant rate was 2.0% and 3.4%, respectively). The majority, (93.0-95.0%) of the surveyed dentists and dental assistants reported that they should have a role in counselling patients to quit smoking. However, the percentage of dental professionals who actually received formal training in tobacco cessation counselling were 8.6% among dentists and 11.8% among dental assistants. Only 5.5% of dentists had provided smoking cessation section in their dental offices. In summary, Thai dentists and dental assistants had very law rate of tobacco comsumption. They required more trainings on smoking cessation services.