Aim: Dental phobia stems from fear and anxiety and is considered a major hurdle in dental treatment of pediatric patients who in turn resist or start avoiding treatment. Endogenous indolamines like melatonin which is produced by pineal gland has a chief role in regulation of circadian rhythms. Melatonin acts like an oncostatic agent, known to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory as well as anticonvulsant property. It is mainly administered through oral or sublingual route of drug administration. No substantial side effects have been reported by administration of melatonin. Soon after melatonin intake, it undergoes first-pass effect reaching in about 60 min to its peak plasma levels and within 4 h the blood level falls. Study Design: The present case-control study is a retrospective study with age and sex matched recruitments. Data collection was done as per first visit and then post treatment of 50 subjects who reported to the Department of Preventive and Pediatric dentistry. Methods: In accord with the literature, 25 pediatric subjects were administered with 0.5 mg/ kg body weight Melatonin 60’ prior to their first visit followed by their Pedodontic management. As per record no initial Pedodontic treatment was given to the rest of the 25 recruits. The successful management of treatment was assessed by analyzing their pain experience through FLACC behavioral pain scale. Results: A statistically significant number of children (n=50) both age and sex matched were included in the study and further divided into Group A and Group B with mean age of 7.56 years and 7.08 years respectively. Group A received Melatonin treatment while Group B was not given any preventive treatment. As per the FLACC scale categories, Melatonin was well tolerated by all the children of A Group, out of which 42% of subjects showed relaxed levels or slight discomfort (0-3), 42% presented with moderate discomfort or pain (4-6) while only 16% showed severe or intense pain or discomfort (7-10). Conclusions: The present study thus establishes a positive role of Melatonin on Pedodontic therapy as it has a potent analgesic and anxiolytic potential. Limitation of study is smaller sample size.

Aim: This study aimed to mechanically test the shear bond strength (SBS) of cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) metal frameworks prepared with three different production techniques with dental porcelain after the thermocycling process. Materials and Methods: Sixty Co-Cr-based metal substructure samples were prepared using traditional casting, CAD/CAM system, and laser sintering methods. The samples were treated with uniform layering porcelain and half of the subgroups (n=10) were thermocycling (5000 cycles, 5–55oC). Metal-ceramic bond strength of all samples was evaluated using the shear bond test under the standard. The shear bond strength values to the normal distribution was examined with an analysis program (SPSS for Windows 22.0, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis of the obtained data. One-way ANOVA test and post hoc test (Tukey’s) performed for data evaluation. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between the average bond strength (MPa) in the comparison of different production techniques (p˂0.05). The average bonding strength of the samples grouped according to different fabrication methods; was found 16.54 ± 2.42 MPa for the CAD/CAM milling method, 8.98 ± 4.16 MPa for selective laser sintering, and 8.76 ± 3.05 MPa for conventional casting. When comparing the thermocycling application of the prepared samples, a statistically significant difference was found between the means of shear bond strength. The CAD/CAM milling group has the highest value (15.54 ± 2.16) and is statistically different from the others. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, it was determined that the production method affects the metal-ceramic bond strength, but the thermocycling application does not make a significant difference. Milled Co-Cr samples had a higher SBS value than casting and laser sintering samples.

Background: Development of dentition is controlled by numerous genes, proven by experimental animal studies and mutations that have been identified by genetic studies in man. Purpose: In the present study a nonsense mutation has been identified in the PAX9 gene that was associated with molar tooth agenesis (hypodontia or oligodontia). Methodology: The proband of family 1 originally came for treatment to the Department of Pedodontic and Preventive Dentistry. The proband of family 2 was an orthodontic patient of the Department of Orthodontics and Maxillofacial Orthopedics. All family members were clinically examined by one of the authors and agenesis of teeth was also verified with panoramic radiographs. DNA was extracted from venous blood samples using standard methods. The coding region of the PAX9 gene were amplified using four sets of primers Amplification was performed in 100 ml with DNA concentration of 1.5 ng/ml, 1.5 mM MgCl2 and 1 mU polymerase. Results: The A340T transversion creates a stop codon at lysine 114, and truncates the coded PAX9 protein at the end of the DNA- binding paired-box. All the affected members of the family were heterozygous for the mutation. The tooth agenesis phenotype involves all permanent second and third molars and most of the first molars and resembles the earlier reported phenotype that was also associated with a PAX9 mutation [1]. Conclusion: The phenotype is presumably a consequence of haplo insufficiency of PAX9. In other family with molar tooth agenesis, similar sequence changes in PAX9 could not be found.

Aim: This study aimed to assess Dentist Awareness of Basic life Support (BLS) among Dental colleges of NCR U.P India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out in randomly selected 3 dental colleges out of 6 pursuing post-graduation courses in NCR. A prior permission was obtained from the concerned college authorities. The study was conducted by assessing responses to 20 selected basic questions regarding BLS among M.D.S Staff, P.G Student, and B.D.S Staff. A questionnaire with 20 questions regarding the awareness and skills involved in BLS was used to assess the levels of awareness to BLS and its practical knowledge. The aspects on which they were interrogated were about the abbreviation of BLS, AED and EMS (Emergency Medical Service), sequential steps in BLS, assessment and resuscitation techniques with regard to airway, breathing, circulation in unresponsive victims of different age groups, techniques regarding removal of foreign body obstruction, recognition of early signs of stroke and acute coronary syndrome. Results: The findings of present study are somewhat similar to Chandrashekaran S et al., [1] who stated that medical, dental, nursing students & faculty in the study group were severely lacking in the awareness of BLS whereas in the present study BDS faculty and postgraduates of dental were same but MDS faculty were somewhat aware about BLS. On comparison MDS Faculty showed more awareness as compared to PG student and BDS faculty in this study. Conclusions: It is also equally important that teachers, school children, public and all lay persons from the community be taught the facts of basic life support and first aid.