Tanvi Bharti

The present study aims at evaluating the alkaline phosphatase, calcium, inorganic phosphorous, pH, buffering capacity levels of saliva and DMFT index in intellectually disabled and non-intellectually disabled children. Saliva is one of the most important factor in prevention of dental caries. Any change in saliva composition plays an important role in development and progression of caries. The prevalence of dental caries and alkaline phosphatase is high in Intellectually disabled children whether the remaining salivary constituents are found at higher levels in non-intellectually disabled children. This is due to poor muscular synchronization and muscle weakness in intellectually disabled children that hinders routine daily oral hygiene measures. Lack of knowledge about oral hygiene practices, lack of motivation, low priority given to the dental care in the society, lack of facilities for regular oral health check-up and prompt treatment, poor socioeconomic status of the parents and cost of the treatment may be the reasons for these accumulated treatment needs. Thus, a systematic endeavor to enhance the preventive approach should be undertaken by the oral health authorities.

Dentist in practice whether general practitioners specialists, academicians or researchers, each of us has a professional responsibility to educate ourselves and the community in the prevention and treatment of traumatic injuries. In modern dentistry, traumas that affect the hard tissues of the teeth are significant, because of the frequency with which they occur, owing to the increased craze for sports and adventure games. They are accompanied with functional, emotional and aesthetic disturbances. These problems have to be treated rapidly, as a great deal of success depends on early intervention in these cases. With advance knowledge in this field, the availability of various modern restorative materials and the scientific proof of various treatment modalities and techniques, we see more scored to tackle the traumatized teeth and restore them to an acceptable functional and aesthetic state. Dentists should and can be in the forefront for the treatment of dental trauma as it is our professional; responsibility and very rightly supports the fact "Prevention is better than cure".