sitive image of dental profession was the main reason for students studying dentistry at all three schools; as many as 97% of the students of the final year in Croatia, a member of the European Union (EU). In the two non-EU countries (Albania, Macedonia) it seemed that dental profession does not have such good status and student expectations are not being fulfilled, especially in Skopje (up to 33.9% willing to change their vocation and up to 64.5% lost their motivation to study) One of the strategies to improve the situation could be to include more clinical practice and to better organize the study..

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usage of caries risk assessment (CRA) by Croatian general practitioners and evaluate their knowledge and attitudes towards CRA.

A link to an online questionnaire was sent via e-mail to a sample of 1,500 general dentists in Croatia. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression analyses and chi-square tests.

Of 257 respondents, 47% performed CRA routinely, but only 4.5% of them used a specific CRA form. VX-11e The significance of different factors in the development of a treatment plan varied considerably among respondents. Furthermore, in 77% of the respondents CRA was a basis for planning individual caries prevention (ICP). The association between CRA and ICP, and between CRA and treatment planning was statistically significant (p=0.001). The practitioners doing CRA more often plan their treatment and ICP according to CRA. The use of CRA was not influenced by specialty and dentists’ experience.

In a considerable percentage (53%) of Croatian general dentists, CRA is not part of their routine practice, and there is a strong association between the use of CRA and treatment plans and ICP. There is a need to promote the use of CRA in daily dental practice in Croatia.

In a considerable percentage (53%) of Croatian general dentists, CRA is not part of their routine practice, and there is a strong association between the use of CRA and treatment plans and ICP. There is a need to promote the use of CRA in daily dental practice in Croatia.

The development of third molars can be helpful in dental age estimation of adolescents and in early adult period. We tested the repeatability and accuracy of the three dental age radiographic methods (Olze, Demirjian and Solari and Abramovitch) and evaluated which method is more useful. We also aimed at testing to find the correlation of estimated dental and chronological age by these three methods.

The orthopantomographs (OPGs) of 1007 individuals (8 – 25 years) were divided into two groups (cca 500 OPGs) – one group of OPGs has been presented with all four third molars, while another one was registered with third molar/s hypodontia. And all of OPGs were assessed, to verify the three methods (Olze, Demirjian and Solari and Abramovitch) for age estimation based on third molar development.

There was a high Spearman’s correlation coefficient between stages of development of wisdom tooth and chronological age of subjects by all these three methods.

We may recommend using third molars for assessing the dental age by Olze, Demirjian and Solari and Abramovitch dental method as well, on Bosnian and Herzegovinian population.

We may recommend using third molars for assessing the dental age by Olze, Demirjian and Solari and Abramovitch dental method as well, on Bosnian and Herzegovinian population.

The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the prevalence of hypodontia in the permanent dentition among Croatian orthodontic patients. The occurrence was evaluated concerning gender, specific missing teeth, the location, pattern of distribution in the maxillary and mandibular arches and sagittal and vertical skeletal pattern.

The sample consisted of 194 patients (75 males and 119 females) from the Department of Orthodontics, Dental Clinic, Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb. Based on the severity of hypodontia the sample was divided into mild (1-2 missing teeth), moderate (3-5 missing teeth) and severe groups (6 or more missing teeth). The location of missing teeth was used to further divide the sample into anterior (intercanine region), posterior (premolars and molars) and anteroposterior groups. In addition, jaw localization of hypodontia was also considered.

Permanent dentition hypodontia among Croatian orthodontic patients was found to be generally mild (80%), and a distribution was similar in the maxilla (39%) and the mandible (41%), as well as in the anterior and posterior segments of dental arch (44%). The number of missing teeth per person ranged from 1 to 12, with no significant difference between genders. The severity and location of hypodontia did not differ significantly between the genders, as well as in between the categories of sagittal and vertical skeletal patterns.

Present results suggest that the treatment plan for patients with hypodontia in permanent dentition should be individualized and adjusted for each case.

Present results suggest that the treatment plan for patients with hypodontia in permanent dentition should be individualized and adjusted for each case.

The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of fluoride ions present in various solvent solutions and compare it to the label amount of fluoride concentration.

The gel containing amine fluoride and sodium fluoride was compared to gel containing sodium fluoride only. The solvents used in this study were distilled water, redistilled water, tap water, 0.9% sodium chloride solution and the artificial saliva. The amount of fluoride ion (F

) was determined by the use of fluoride ion-selective electrode. The ANOVA and the Post hoc Tukey’s test were used. The significance level was α = 5%.

The differences between F

ion release in various solvents were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The F

ion concentrations measured in both gels’ redistilled water solutions were higher than the label concentration. There was a significant difference in fluoride ion release in sodium fluoride only gel solutions. Fluoride ion release was significantly different in combined fluoride gel solutions.

Amine fluorides do not interact with other ions present in the solution, whereas F

ion release from sodium fluoride alters when other ions are dissolved in the same solution.