Taurodontism is an anomaly characterized by a long and broad pulpal cavity and consumed apical location of the furcation area. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of taurodontism in deciduous molars based on digital panoramic radiographs of children. The study was performed on a sample of panoramic radiographs taken from 2,473 Korean children who visited the department of pediatric dentistry, Yonsei University Dental Hospital between Nov. 2005 and Mar. 2018. Taurodontism was mainly categorized by Daito’s method. Using panoramic radiographs, taurodontism was also categorized into mesotaurodontism, hypotaurodontism, and hypertaurodontism. Mesotaurodontism was the most prevalent type. A total of 2,473 panoramic radiographs were evaluated. The prevalence of taurodontism was 5.7% in general, 51.5% in the left quadrant, 48.5% in the right quadrant, 6.3% in the maxilla, and 93.7% in the mandible. The distribution of taurodontism stratified by gender showed a higher prevalence in males. This is a comprehensive study on the prevalence of taurodontism in children using the largest sample size to date.

Endodontic treatment of primary molars is a great challenge to the dentists because of their complex morphology. However, there have been limited controlled in vivo studies about filling materials for primary teeth. Hence, the aim of this study is to evaluate and compare histologic responses of different calcium hydroxide canal filling materials that are used in daily clinical practice.Pulpectomies were performed in 132 teeth of the dogs. The root canals were randomly filled with either Vitapex® (n = 44), Metapex® (n = 44), or Metapaste® (n = 44). After 4 or 13 weeks, respectively after operation, the dogs were sacrificed, and teeth were processed for histologic examinations. Inflammatory reaction was evaluated and scored in a blind manner. The Fisher's exact test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the tested groups.In 4-week-group, all inflammatory responses were in normal range except for fibrosis. In 13-week-group, increased response to various inflammation reaction was shown compared to the 4-week-group. However, there were no statically significant differences between the tested groups in all inflammatory reaction.Overall, there were no significant differences among three materials in responses of apical tissues and all of them showed favorable tissue responses.
Animals ; Calcium Hydroxide ; Dental Pulp Cavity ; Dentists ; Dogs ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Molar ; Pulpectomy ; Reference Values ; Tooth ; Tooth, Deciduous

A pyramidal molar is which has completely fused roots with a solitary enlarged canal. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of pyramidal molars among adolescent.
A total of 1,612 patients’ panoramic radiographs were screened. A total of 12,896 first and second molars were evaluated. The relative incidence and the correlations regarding the location of pyramidal molar (maxillary versus mandibular) and gender were analyzed using the chi-square test.
The overall incidence of patients with pyramidal molars was 1.49%. 24 patients were found to have a pyramidal molar and it was more prevalent in women (18 women and 6 men). The prevalence of pyramidal molars from all first and second molars examined was 0.31%. 88 percent of pyramidal molars occurred in maxilla. All pyramidal molars were second molar.
Pyramidal molar has a relatively poor periodontal prognosis compared with common multi-rooted teeth and it is important to understand the structural characteristics of root canal during pulp treatment. Clinicians should be able to understand the anatomical properties of pyramidal molar and apply it to treatment and prognostic evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate current status of sedation training for the residents in pediatric dentistry training institutions and opinions about continuing education after the residency program.
Surveys were sent to 18 pediatric dentistry training institutions by e-mail, and the responses were collected and analyzed. Most of the sedation education period for the residents were the 1st-year education (61.1%) and 1 - 3 years of integrated education (55.6%). In terms of an externship, 5 institutions (27.8%) sent their residents to the department of anesthesiology. Second half of the 1st year (50%) was the highest for a resident to use sedation for the first time. The period of supervisor participation varied from not participating at all to whole time throughout the residency program. The sedation training is conducted at all training institutions, but there were variations in the experience that a resident can gain.
All training institutions agreed on the necessity of continuing education of the sedation, but there were various opinions regarding time, method, and the period of review course. Overall, this study suggested that continuing education should be consisted of 1 - 2 hours of didactic education every year and clinical skills and simulation training in every 2 - 3 years.

The noise is defined as unwanted sound that causes discomfort and physical changes. This study was conducted to evaluate intensity of noise in the pediatric dental clinic and to investigate noise environment of a pediatric dentist. Human ear shaped microphone and mobile noise level meter were used for recording noise and calculating intensity of noise.
By recording according to the method specified by Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) of Korea Ministry of labor and employment, the following results were obtained. For 16 experimental days, 8 hour time weighted average (8hr-TWA) was 49.33 dBA (A-weighted deci-Bell) on daily average with maximum 58.54 dBA and minimum 33.97 dBA. And Dose was 0.49% on daily average with maximum 1.28%, minimum 0.04%. These values are less than criteria of KOSHA standard (85 dBA, 100%). Comparing the highest noise level for each patient, pulp therapy group and Frankel grade I group were the highest.
The intensity of dental noise of pediatric dental clinic didn’t meet standard of KOSHA. It is necessary to re-evaluate noise environment by establishing new standards considering environment of pediatric dental clinic.

This study aimed to investigate parents’ and dentists’ perceptions of the national oral health screening for infants and children (OHS), and evaluate the dentists’ accuracy of analyzing the results of OHS. A questionnaire survey was conducted, face-to-face or online, for 90 parents of children who received OHS in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Yonsei University Dental Hospital and 100 dentists working at local clinic or university dental hospital from May to October 2021. Most parents and dentists were aware of the importance of OHS, and approximately 96.7% of parents were satisfied with OHS. The requirements of parents and dentists about OHS were different. The reasons for having difficulties in explaining parents after OHS and the opinions on appropriate period and number of OHS were disagreed between pediatric dentists and general dentists. Regardless of dentists’ major, work experience, elapsed period after taking online education program, the accuracy of the examination result was low. In this study, various opinions of parents and dentists on OHS were collected. Efforts should be made to enhance the oral health of infants and children by considering the requirements of parents and dentists and improving the accuracy of examination results.

This study aimed to evaluate the masticatory performance of Korean children and adolescents and to investigate related factors. Early loss of primary molars, degree of occlusion of first molars, occlusal relationship of first molars, and presence of anterior crossbite were considered. From March 2020 to July 2021, 56 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 12 were included. The mixing ability index (MAI) was calculated to evaluate the masticatory efficiency of children and adolescents. The subjects were classified into three groups according to the number of early lost primary molars; normal dentition, 1 - 2 teeth lost, more than 3 teeth lost. The number of participants are 23, 18, and 15, respectively. There was no difference in the MAI values between the normal dentition group and the group has 1 - 2 teeth lost. However, when 3 or more primary molars were lost, the MAI value decreased and a significant difference was observed. This study is the first study to evaluate the masticatory performance of children and adolescents in Korea, and it will be helpful to pediatric dentists who evaluate the masticatory performance of children and adolescents and strive to improve the masticatory efficiency of children and adolescents in clinical practice.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the dental consultation of pediatric inpatients to the department of pediatric dentistry in Yonsei University Severance Hospital, and to investigate the change in patterns. In 2017, 268 pediatric patients (384 cases) admitted to the Severance Hospital were referred to the department of pediatric dentistry. The mean age was 6.6 years, and most of the patients were referred from the Department of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Rehabilitation Medicine. The chief complaints were as follows: oral examination (31%), dental caries (20%), oral pain (10%), tooth mobility (10%), pre-operative evaluation (9%) and others (20%). 41% of the patients received only oral examination without treatment. Dental caries were the most frequent dental diagnosis of the patients. 28% (111 cases) of patients received operative treatments, 22 cases were treated under general anesthesia. Oral health is closely related to systemic diseases, especially for hospitalized patients. Dental consultations should be encouraged for prevention and early appropriate treatments. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish a referral system and perform dental treatment under general anesthesia.
Anesthesia, General ; Dental Caries ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Oral ; Hematology ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Oral Health ; Pediatric Dentistry ; Referral and Consultation ; Rehabilitation ; Tooth Mobility

Vertical facial growth triggers the rotation of mandible to move the chin point to the downward and backward direction, which showed remarkably effective result making the less prominent chin. Recently, the intraoral removable appliance utilizing class III elastic demonstrated the vertical growth trigger mechanism. The treatment change was very fast and wearing was quite easy, compared to extraoral appliances.The purpose of this study was to verify the duration of the treatment on class III malocclusion using intraoral removable appliances, which designed to accelerate vertical facial growth.56 patients were selected with the complaint of the protruded mandible and class III malocclusion (overjet : −3 – 0 mm, overbite : 0 – 4 mm). Information like; age at start, duration of the treatment events, type of the treatment, overjet, overbite etc. was collected and calculated.The average age of the patients delivering the initial brace was 8.75 ± 1.10 year. Most of the anterior crossbite was resolved within 6 months. The total treatment period was 21.79 ± 10.73 months with the additional procedures like the alignment of anterior teeth and torque control using additional removable and fixed orthodontic appliances. The correlation study showed that patient's cooperation (p = 0.000) and the use of fixed appliance (p = 0.032) were significantly influenced on treatment duration.
Braces ; Chin ; Humans ; Malocclusion ; Mandible ; Orthodontic Appliances ; Overbite ; Statistics as Topic ; Tooth ; Torque

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of 3 different automatic landmark identification programs on lateral cephalgrams and the clinical acceptability in pediatric dentistry.
Sixty digital cephalometric radiographs of 7 to 12 years old healthy children were randomly selected. Fourteen landmarks were chosen for assessment and the mean of 3 measurements of each landmark by a single examiner was defined as the baseline landmarks. The mean difference between an automatically identified landmark and the baseline landmark was measured for each landmark on each image.
The total mean difference of 3 automatic programs compared to the baseline landmarks were 2.53 ± 1.63 mm. Errors among 3 programs were not significantly different for 12 of 14 landmarks except Orbitale and Gonion. The automatic landmark identification programs showed significant higher mean detection errors than the manual method. The programs couldn’t be used as the 1st tool to replace human examiners. But considering short consuming time, these results indicate that all 3 programs have sufficient validity to be used in pediatric dental clinic.