As of now, there has been no single material in dentistry that fulfills all the requirements of an ideal material. While the search for an “ideal material” continues, a newer generation of materials has been introduced. The adjective “smart” implies that these materials are able to sense changes in their environments and then respond to these changes in predetermined manners – traits that are also found in living organisms. These materials may be altered in a controlled fashion by stimulus such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, and electric or magnetic field. Some of these are “bio-mimetic” in nature while others are “bio-responsive.” These materials would potentially allow new and groundbreaking dental therapies with a significantly enhanced clinical outcome of the treatment procedures. This paper attempts to highlight some of the currently available “smart materials” in pediatric dentistry which may over the course of years help us move toward a new era of bio-smart dentistry.

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Traumatic dental injury is one of the main causes of premature loss of maxillary anterior teeth in schoolgoing children, causing psychological trauma both to patient as well as parents. In that situation, choice of treatment is maintaining the space by space maintainer which may be fixed/removable or functional/nonfunctional. This article describes rehabilitation of a 4½-year-old child after avulsion of the maxillary central incisor, using fixed functional anterior esthetic space maintainer.

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Fluoride is often called a two-edged sword. In the human system, this fluoride has a dual personality, a destructive effect (>1.5 ppm – dental and skeletal fluorosis), and a beneficial effect (up to1.0 ppm – caries prevention and health promotion). World Health Organization recommends that the fluoride content in drinking water should be in the range of 1.0–1.5 ppm. Fluoride concentrations beyond the standards cause dental and skeletal fluorosis. Among various methods used for defluoridation of water, adsorption method is relatively simple, economical, and appropriate for drinking water treatment, especially for small communities. In this review, a list of various adsorbents and their adsorption capacities for fluoride are overviewed with various affecting parameters.

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Aim: This in vivo study was carried out to assess the clinical and radiographic evaluation of pulpotomy in primary molars, following the use of formocresol (FC) versus sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) 5%. Materials and Methods: In the present study, pulpotomies were conducted on sixty primary molars of 5–8-year-old children who referred to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. The selected teeth were equally distributed and randomly assigned into two groups of FC and NaOCl 5%. After taking the initial radiographs, standard pulpotomy was carried out using FC and NaOCl 5%; pulp chamber was filled with intermediate restorative material and restored with stainless steel crown cemented with glass ionomer cement. Results: The control (FC) and experimental (NaOCl 5%) groups demonstrated 96.3% clinical success at 3 and 6 months. The NaOCl group had 88.9% radiographic success at 3 months and 88.4% at 6 months. The FC group had 76.9% and 72% radiographic success at 3 and 6 months, respectively. No significant differences were found in clinical and radiological outcomes between two groups at 3 and 6 months (Pearson's test, Fishers exact test; P = 0.02 and P = 0.05, respectively). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, NaOCl demonstrated clinical and radiological success comparable to FC.

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Aim: This study was carried out with the aim of comparing the efficacy of Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and 20% benzocaine gel prior to inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) injections in alleviating pain in children of 8–12 years of age. Materials and Methods: The sample included fifty children in whom TENS application was done and fifty children in whom benzocaine topical application was done prior to administration of IANB injections for the extraction of mandibular posterior teeth. Pain perception was evaluated using Wong–Bakers Facial Pain Rating Scale in both the groups. ANOVA test was used to evaluate the differences in mean pain scores between the groups. Results: The patients demonstrated significant reduction in pain during IANB when TENS was used with a mean pain score of 3.36 as compared to topical application of local anesthetic agent with a mean pain score of 4.76, indicating higher efficacy of TENS. Conclusion: Application of TENS was more comfortable and significantly reduced pain. TENS is a safe, reliable, and practical alternative to be used in pediatric dentistry.

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Background: Children tend to have a unfound fear and anxiety. Placing coloured restoration can motivate and reduce the anxiety in the child. Aim: To assess the behaviour of the child after placement of coloured restorative material. Materials and Methods: 48 Children of 3-7 years who visited department of pedodontics and preventive dentistry with a occlusal lesion in primary molar teeth were included in the study. The child's behaviour was assessed before and after the treatment. The outcome was based on the cooperation on the child on further appointments. Results: The children who were given coloured restoration had better improvement in the behaviour when compared to that of the regular restoration which was statistical significant. Conclusion: The coloured restoration are effective motivational tool for the children and reduces anxiety which ultimately benefits better cooperation and improvement in oral hygiene maintanence.

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Background: Traumatic dental injuries (TDI) are considered to be an important issue due to its high prevalence, mainly in areas of high social privation. They have a strong impact on children's and adolescent's life quality because they cause physical and emotional distress, and in children, they might have a high negative impact on the social relationships. Involvement of children in sports activities and increase in traffic accidents have contributed to transform these TDI an emergent public health problem. Aim and Objectives: The current retrospective study is to determine the prevalence of TDI reported to Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, CKS Teja Dental College, Tirupathi, during the years 2011–2016. Methodology: Sample size is the total number of patients reported to the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, CKS Teja Dental College, Tirupathi, within the period of 2010–2016. The data were retrieved from medical records of patients who reported to the department. Results: All recorded data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical software program (2012). The results were evaluated by Chi-square test. A total of 324 patients aged between 3 and 18 years met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study. The highest frequency of TDI was in the 10–12-year-old participants and lowest frequency was in 3–6-year-old children. The etiology of TDI was analyzed; highest were caused by falls, followed by sports activities and then striking objectives and then followed by accidents and cycling. The most common type of injury was uncomplicated crown fracture (without pulp exposure) followed by avulsion and complicated crown fracture (with pulp exposure). Conclusion: Study observed the children in mixed dentition period as the population at risk. Hence, prevention through health promotion and correction of predisposing risk factors should be carried out in early mixed dentition period to reduce the prevalence of dental injury and to avoid the financial costs of treatment.

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Retinoblastoma is a highly malignant tumor of an eye, which is often detected at a far advanced stage in childhood. The most preferred treatment for such neoplasm is enucleation followed by placement of orbital implants. The affected child undergoes overwhelming psychological, social, emotional, and behavioral changes due to facial asymmetry resulting from enucleation. A team approach including pediatric ophthalmologist, psychologist, and a maxillofacial prosthodontist plays an important role in such cases helping such children in their reintegration in the society. This paper presents a case of a 4-year-old male patient who had undergone enucleation of his right eye due to intraocular retinoblastoma. The patient was rehabilitated cosmetically with precisely fabricated customized ocular prosthesis. An ocular prosthesis is a highly positive and noninvasive approach to improve the cosmetic appearance and psychological well-being of the patient.

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Dens invaginatus is a developmental malformation resulting from invagination of the tooth crown or root before calcification has occurred. It can range from a deep fissure or pit on the lingual surfaces of anterior teeth to an occlusal pit on the posterior teeth. This article presents a case of type II dens in dente in a 14-year-old female patient, where the invagination extends beyond the cementoenamel junction in maxillary lateral incisor with a large periradicular lesion. Usually, an anomaly such as dens invaginatus remains unnoticed by the patient until any clinical sign appears. Root canal treatment of such teeth with complex root canal anatomy can be difficult because infected pulpal tissues may remain in inaccessible areas of the canal. Hence, it is important to identify this anomaly and manage it as early as possible. In the present case, a nonsurgical root canal treatment of the invagination was performed. The treatment of invagination resulted in resolution of a substantial periradicular lesion.

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Traumatic injuries are the most common dental problems after dental caries occurring in children, especially in the early teenage years. Such injuries include tooth fracture with or without pulp involvement, intrusion, extrusion, and avulsion. Of these, avulsion is one of the most severe dental injuries and has a major psychological impact on the child. One of the complications of avulsion may include space loss due to mesial migration and rotations in the adjacent teeth which may require orthodontic correction following which immediate chairside replacement may be done with a long-term provisional restoration before the placement of final implant prosthesis after stoppage of bone growth and development. This article presents an innovative, affordable chairside procedure in which multipurpose fiber-reinforced composite is used to replace a single avulsed anterior tooth.

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