Oral Health in the State of Kuwait: An Appraisal.

Background: Oral health issues have received significant attention from most global health agencies, which have integrated these issues into their noncommunicable disease, sustainable development, and universal health coverage objectives.

Methods: This paper provides an update on the progress made in the last 2 decades and aims to highlight some of the challenges faced by the oral health care system in Kuwait.

Results: Despite the nation's rising expenditure on oral health care, the prevalence of oral diseases remains high in Kuwait.

Towards value-based healthcare: Establishing baseline pharmacy care costs for diabetes management.

The prevalence of diabetes has increased by three folds over the last 20 years, and the global cost of diabetes mellitus surpassed one trillion US Dollars (USD) or 1.8% of the global GDP in 2015. Generally, prescription medication to treat complications of diabetes makes up nearly 30% of diabetes medical expenditures.

Early therapeutic lamellar keratoplasty for acanthamoeba keratitis followed by implantable Collamer lens for visual rehabilitation.

We are reporting the case of a 25-year-old female who developed acanthamoeba keratitis after wearing contact lenses for high myopia. She was diagnosed as acanthamoeba and started the treatment of antiacanthamoeba for 3 consecutive weeks, followed by bare Descemet's therapeutic lamellar keratoplasty (LKP) with the maintenance of antiacanthamoeba treatment to control the infection. In the late postoperative period, visual rehabilitation was obtained by insertion of implantable Collamer lens (ICL) with her final visual outcome was 20/30.

The salivary microbiome is altered in the presence of a high salivary glucose concentration.

Background: Type II diabetes (T2D) has been associated with changes in oral bacterial diversity and frequency. It is not known whether these changes are part of the etiology of T2D, or one of its effects.

Methods: We measured the glucose concentration, bacterial counts, and relative frequencies of 42 bacterial species in whole saliva samples from 8,173 Kuwaiti adolescents (mean age 10.

Relationship Between Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Primary School Teachers and Their Oral Health-related Quality of Life: A Cross-sectional Study.

Purpose: To measure oral health (OH) knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of primary school teachers and to evaluate the relationship between these measures and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Materials And Methods: A total of 1013 school teachers from all regions of Kuwait were randomly selected in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire on demographics, knowledge, attitude, practices and OHRQoL was used.

Salivary Biomarkers in Pediatric Metabolic Disease Research.

The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders is now considered a global pandemic. The main goal of the pediatric obesity research community is to identify children who are at risk of becoming obese before their body mass index rises above age norms. To do so, we must identify biomarkers of metabolic health and immunometabolism that can be used for large-scale screening and diagnosis initiatives among at-risk children.

Unhealthy Phenotype as Indicated by Salivary Biomarkers: Glucose, Insulin, VEGF-A, and IL-12p70 in Obese Kuwaiti Adolescents.

Objective: Here, we investigated the relationships between obesity and the salivary concentrations of insulin, glucose, and 20 metabolic biomarkers in Kuwaiti adolescents. Previously, we have shown that certain salivary metabolic markers can act as surrogates for blood concentrations.

Methods: Salivary samples of whole saliva were collected from 8,317 adolescents.

Five-year Sealant Retention and Efficacy in a Multi-operated School-based Oral Health Programme in Kuwait.

Purpose: To evaluate sealant retention in a multi-operator school-based oral health programme and sealant efficacy in preventing caries in a high caries-risk population.

Materials And Methods: Sealant retention and caries status in previously placed sealants on permanent first molars were evaluated in 503 children ages 6 to 8 years at 20 primary schools. A total of 2538 sealants were applied on 876 first permanent molars and evaluated for retention and efficacy in preventing caries from 2002 to 2007.

Continuous Metabolic Syndrome Scores for Children Using Salivary Biomarkers.

Background: Binary definitions of the metabolic syndrome based on the presence of a particular number of individual risk factors are limited, particularly in the pediatric population. To address this limitation, we aimed at constructing composite and continuous metabolic syndrome scores (cmetS) to represent an overall measure of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a large cohort of metabolically at-risk children, focusing on the use of the usual clinical parameters (waist circumference (WC) and systolic blood pressure (SBP), supplemented with two salivary surrogate variables (glucose and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC). Two different approaches used to create the scores were evaluated in comparison.

Sealant versus Fluoride in Primary Molars of Kindergarten Children Regularly Receiving Fluoride Varnish: One-Year Randomized Clinical Trial Follow-Up.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to measure the caries preventive effect of sealants applied to occlusal surfaces of primary molars compared to fluoride varnish applications, and to assess the retention rate of sealants after 1 year.

Methods: 147 first-grade pupils from two kindergarten schools in Kuwait, whose parents gave their written consent, were included. The children were examined by one dentist using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System.

Impact of dental health on children's oral health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study.

Background: To assess the impact of children's dental health status (DHS) on their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Methods: Participants were 11- and 12-year-old children attending public schools in the Kuwait Capital Region. Children's DHS was evaluated by clinical examinations and presented using decayed, missed, filled teeth/surface (DMFT/dmft, DMFS/dmfs); restorative (RI), plaque (PI); and pulp, ulcers, fistula, abscess (PUFA) indices.

Parental perceptions of dental visits and access to dental care among disabled schoolchildren in Kuwait.

The objective of this study was to describe dental visiting habits and access to dental care among the disabled schoolchildren in Kuwait. A total of 308 parents of children with a physical disability (n = 211), Down syndrome (n = 97) and teachers, who had normal children (n = 112) participated in the study. Less than one-fourth (21%) of the disabled children and 37% of the normal children had never visited a dentist (p = 0.

Salivary glucose concentration exhibits threshold kinetics in normal-weight, overweight, and obese children.

Background: Metabolic syndrome in childhood predicts the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adulthood. Testing for features of metabolic syndrome, such as fasting plasma glucose concentration, requires blood sampling which can be difficult in children. Here we evaluated salivary glucose concentration as a surrogate measurement for plasma glucose concentration in 11-year-old US children.

MTA pulpotomy as an alternative to root canal treatment in children's permanent teeth in a dental public health setting.

Objective: This prospective clinical study evaluated the success of vital pulpotomy treatment for permanent teeth with closed apices using mineral trioxide aggregates (MTA) in a dental public health setting.

Methods: Twenty-seven mature permanent first molars and 2 premolars (in 25 patients) with carious exposure were treated using MTA pulpotomy. Age of patients ranged from 10- to 15-years (mean=13.

Metabolic disease risk in children by salivary biomarker analysis.

Objective: The study of obesity-related metabolic syndrome or Type 2 diabetes (T2D) in children is particularly difficult because of fear of needles. We tested a non-invasive approach to study inflammatory parameters in an at-risk population of children to provide proof-of-principle for future investigations of vulnerable subjects.

Design And Methods: We evaluated metabolic differences in 744, 11-year old children selected from underweight, normal healthy weight, overweight and obese categories by analyzing fasting saliva samples for 20 biomarkers.

Caries prevalence, oral hygiene, and oral health habits of Kuwaiti infants and toddlers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the oral health, oral hygiene, and oral health habits of Kuwaiti infants and toddlers.

Subjects And Methods: This cross-sectional study of a convenience sample included 336 infants and toddlers (156 females and 180 males). The teeth of the infants and toddlers were examined using a mirror and a light source.

School Oral Health Program in Kuwait.

The School Oral Health Program (SOHP), Kuwait, is a joint venture between the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, and Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Mass., USA. This program provides oral health education, prevention and treatment to almost 280,000 public school children in Kuwait.

Obesity and dental decay: inference on the role of dietary sugar.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship of children's obesity and dental decay.

Methods: We measured parameters related to obesity and dental decay in 8,275 4(th) and 5(th) grade Kuwaiti children (average age = 11.36 years) in a cross-sectional study.

Oral health-related quality of life among parents and teachers of disabled schoolchildren in Kuwait.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the oral health-related quality of life between the parents and the teachers of disabled schoolchildren in Kuwait.

Subjects And Methods: The three category response version of the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) (12 questions, always, sometimes, never) was used in the questionnaires in Kuwait. Three hundred and eight (308) parents and 112 teachers were enrolled in this study.

Oral hygiene status of Kuwaiti schoolchildren.

A national epidemiological survey of children aged 5-14 years was conducted in all 5 governorates of Kuwait in 2001 to determine the oral hygiene status of Kuwait in schoolchildren. Clinical examinations were carried out by calibrated dentists according to World Health Organization criteria. The debris index simplified (DI-S) score was used to assess oral hygiene status.

Parental attitude toward behavioral management techniques in dental practice with schoolchildren in Kuwait.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the parental attitude toward different management techniques used during dental treatment of schoolchildren in Kuwait.

Subjects And Methods: One hundred and eighteen parents who accompanied their children to the clinics of Hawally School Oral Health Program in Kuwait participated in this study. The parents viewed a videotape which showed scenes of different behavioral management techniques (BMTs) and then completed a questionnaire.

Dental caries experience of Kuwaiti kindergarten schoolchildren.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the caries free proportions, caries experience and restorative care received in Kuwaiti kindergarten schoolchildren. METHODS; A national epidemiologic survey of the 4- and 5-year-old kindergarten schoolchildren (n = 1,277) was conducted in the five govemorates of Kuwait. Five trained and calibrated dentists examined the children.

Ureteral triplication with a contralateral duplication and ureterocele: a case report.

We report a 10-year-old boy who presented with nocturnal enuresis. Radiological workup revealed a left ureteral triplication (Smith type 2) with a contralateral duplication and ureterocele. This presentation and its association are extremely rare.

Field trial on caries prevention with xylitol candies among disabled school students.

Background: In a 1999 survey high caries levels were found among physically disabled school students in Kuwait.

Objectives: A field study was planned to test the efficacy of xylitol candies in preventing caries among individuals in two special schools in Kuwait.

Methods: Altogether 176 students were examined in 2002 and 145 (105 in xylitol group and 40 in the control group) after 18 months' intervention.