Browsing by Author "Naidoo, S."

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    Causes and prevalence of traumatic injuries to the permanent incisors of school children aged 10-14 years in Maseru, Lesotho
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Lin, Htein; Naidoo, S.; Dept. of Community Oral Health; Faculty of Dentistry
    The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, etiology and types of injuries to permanent incisors among schoolchildren aged 10-14 years from Maseru, Lesotho. Upper and lower permanent incisors were examined for dental injuries.
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    Oral health status of children in the Western region of the Eastern Cape Province: a regional survey
    (University of the Western Cape, 2002) Lambrecht, Anthonette; Naidoo, S.
    Purpose: To assess the oral health status of 4-15-year-old schoolchildren in the Western Region of the Eastern Cape Province, by determining the prevalence of dental caries, periodontal disease, dental fluorosis, malocclusion and oral mucosal lesions and to create baseline data for planning oral health services in this region. Materials and Methods: The prevalent analytic survey was undertaken on 822 schoolchildren between the ages of 4-15 years in 27 different schools. The sample size selected for this region by the Department of Statistics, University of Pretoria, for the National Oral Health Survey of 1999/2000 was used. The data on 209, 210, 209 and 194 scholars in the 4-5, 6, 12 and 15-year-old age groups respectively were collected. The World Health Organization's (1997) criteria were used to determine the prevalence of caries, periodontal treatment needs, the dental fluorosis, malocclusion and prevalence of oral mucosal lesions. Six calibrated and trained examiners recorded the data on a survey form. The WHO survey forms were used for data collection. The data were analysed and processed by the author on Microsoft Excel 2000. Results: The sample size consisted of 1.35 % Asian, 51.89 % Black, 26.07 % Coloured and 20.06 % White scholars. Nearly equal amounts of males (48.3 %) and females (51.7%) were examined. The dental caries prevalence in the primary dentition of 4-5-year-olds with an average age of 4.43 years was 40.67%, with a mean dmft of 3,56. The dental caries prevalence in the permanent dentition of6-, 12- and 15-year-oldage groups was 67.62%, 46.05% and 67.92% respectively. The mean DMFT for 6-, 12- and 15 year olds were 0.05, 1.19 and 2.02 respectively. Gender differences and differences in prevalence of dental caries between the populations groups were recorded. The Coloured children experienced the highest dental caries prevalence. In the 4-5- and 15-year-old groups the males were affected more than the females by dental caries. Prevalent differences were recorded between rural and urban areas in the same population group. The prevalence of periodontal disease in 373, 12-15-year-olds was 79.09%. Only 4.02 % were in need of dental hygiene instructions and polishing. Dental education, dental hygiene instructions, dental scaling and polishing were needed by 75.07% of the children. Dental fluorosis prevalence in 450, 6-15-year-olds was 13.03%. Dental fluorosis did not affect 86.97% of the scholars; 10.63% had mild fluorosis and 2.05% was severely affected. The mean fluoride concentration in the drinking water in this region were 1.07 mgIL, ranging between 0.3-3 mgIL. Definite malocclusion was recorded in only 0.48% of the 12-year-old group, whom needed elective treatment. In the 12-year-olds, 99.52% needed no or slight treatment for no or minor malocclusions. The majority of children had no oral mucosal lesions (91.55%). The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was 8.5% in this survey. The most frequent conditions were traumatic lesions (1.96%), dento-alveolar abscess (1.22%) and herpes labialis (1.22%). The intra-examiner reliability for caries, dental fluorosis, periodontal treatment needs and prevalence of malocclusions was 97.66%, 100%, 88.89% and 86.67% respectively. The inter-examiner reliability was 98.75%, 98.34%, 100%, 100% and 100% respectively for the five examiners. Conclusion: This survey indicated a higher prevalence of dental caries in the primary dentition (63.48%), than the permanent dentition (41.3%). The mean dmft was 3.65 and the DMFT 1.2, which indicated a low mean caries experience for these children. The WHO goal for the year 2000 for the 6-year-olds of 50% being caries free has not reached for only 32.56% were caries free. The mean DMFT of 1.2 for 12-year-olds in this survey is below the WHO goal of a mean DMFT of 1.5 or less. The lack of available preventative service provision, were ) indicated by the low percentage of fissure sealants (2.8%). The need for dental treatment was highlighted by the need mostly for one-surface restorations. Preventative treatment, two-surface fillings and extractions were also needed. Periodontal disease was a major public oral health concern for this region for a prevalence of 79.09% was recorded for the 12-15-year-olds. The majority of the children affected by periodontal disease (75.07%) were in need of professional cleaning and calculus removal. The prevalence of dental fluorosis was 8.2%, 19.87% and 13.05% for 6-, 12- and IS-year age groups respectively. The prevalence of malocclusion was 0.48% for the 12-year-old group. The prevalence of oral mucosa lesions was 8.5% for 4-15-year-old schoolchildren. Therefore, the conclusion can be made that dental fluorosis; malocclusions and oral mucosal lesions were no public concern in this region. The major public oral health concerns were dental caries in the primary dentition and periodontal disease in all age groups. Recommendations: Dental services in this region should be directed towards prevention of dental caries in the primary dentition and periodontal disease in all age groups. The focus of dental services should be primarily on preventative programs and treatments. The public dental treatments needs indicated in this survey, namely scaling and polishing, restorations and extractions, consists of the primary health care package delivery. Currently, no evaluation tool exists to monitor the efficiency of oral health programs, no baseline data for the Province exists. Therefore, the urgent need for dental research and oral health service planning and delivery are recommended.
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    A study of the pollination biology of the (gyno)dioecious fig, Ficus capreifolia Del. (Moraceae)
    (University of the Western Cape, 1994) Naidoo, S.; Baijnath, H.
    The pollination biology of Ficus pareidolia Del. was studied. Ficus pareidolia is a (gyno)dioecious species with separate male and female plants bearing male and female syconia respectively. Male syconia had staminate flowers near the ostiolar region of their syconia and numerous short-styled pistillate flowers. Female syconia had only long-styled pistillate flowers throughout their syconia. A mature plant produced up to three hundred syconia. The developmental anatomy of the male and female syconia was studied at both the LM and SEM levels. The structure and development of gall and seed figs appeared to be similar from initiation to the receptive phase. Only female figs, with long-styled pistillate flowers, developed a syntagma and produce seeds. Hermaphrodite (male) figs, with staminate and short-styled pistillate flowers, did not develop a syn-stigma but instead showed early embryo and endosperm development, while also providing only for the development of wasps in their development of b ma le figs are presented. Pollination biology and insects were studied. Female pollinator wasps emerged from the male syconia (gall figs) carrying pollen in their mesothoracic pockets. Coxal combs were also present. Pollination was aerodynamic. Pollen was transferred to short-styled pistillate flowers in the male syconia after oviposition occurred and to long-styled pistillate flowers in the female syconia. Wasps only developed in male syconia, and seeds only developed in female syconia (seed figs). Ratios of gall to uninfected and pollinated to unpollinated flowers are given. Levels of infection of gall flowers varied from 25% to 86%. A single species of secondary psychrophile also oviposited in the gall flowers of male syconia. Of the total number of wasps in each syconium, there were about 70% females of the pollinator wasp, 19,1% males of the pollinator wasp, 8,1% females of the secondary psychrophile, and 2% males of the secondary psychrophile.