Publications by authors named "Sabiha Al-Mutawa"
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.
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.
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.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: 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.
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.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: 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.
Aim: To evaluate the relationship between children's perception of caries and gingivitis and their oral health behaviours.
Design: Participants in this cross-sectional study were children aged 11-14 years. A questionnaire for measuring children's perceptions and behaviours was developed, validated and applied.
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.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: 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.
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.
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.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: 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.
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.
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.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of xylitol candies on plaque and gingival index scores on physically disabled school pupils in Kuwait.
Methodology: Altogether 145 school pupils (105 in the xylitol group and 40 in the control group), with ages ranging from 10 to 27 years (mean age = 14.7 +/- 3.
Objective: This study was designed to measure the dental caries experience of Kuwaiti schoolchildren.
Methods: A national epidemiologic survey of the 5-14 year old children (n = 4,588) was conducted in the 5 governorates of Kuwait in 2001. Eight trained and calibrated dentists examined the children.
The authors report on the effectiveness of a school-based, supervised toothbrushing program among a group of 112 children with Down syndrome in Kuwait. The study involved 45 boys and 67 girls, who ranged in age from 11-22 years (mean, 14.8 years).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective And Importance: To report a case of the bilateral transposition of the maxillary canines with the premolars in a 17-year-old female with Down syndrome.
Clinical Presentation And Intervention: A 17-year-old female presented with moderate mental retardation; she was short and of small stature, and she had a round cherubic face and a broad forehead. Clinical intraoral examination revealed bilateral malpositions of the maxillary canines and premolars as transposition.