Have there been changes in the trend of caries experience among Dutch children in the late 1990s? To answer this question a meta-analysis was carried out on epidemiological data collected in 5-, 6-, 11- and 12-year-old children living in the Netherlands between 1980 and 1999. From results of the present analysis it appears that after the mid 1980s a halt in the decline of caries experience among 5- and 6- year-olds occurred whereas among 11- and 12-year-olds, the earlier decrease in mean DMFS-scoresstopped in the mid nineties. No significant trend in the caries experience among children of Turkish or Moroccan origin was found.

Cervical dentine hypersensitivity is a common problem. When gingiva recession has appeared the root cement can become abraded by several causes and this situation can give pain problems when the tubules do not close. The most important part of the treatment is a good diagnosis and to find and eliminate the predisposing factors. After this has been done it is possibile to try to close the dentinal tubulus for which there are several treatments It is difficult to give a good advice for the treatment of cervical dentine hypersensitivity because research in this field is difficult due to the large amount of variabels, the placebo effect and because the lack of a good experimental model.

Noma (cancrum oris, water cancer) is an orofacial gangrene that may develop in malnutritioned children debilitated by concomittant diseases as measles. It has been hypothesized that the gangrene originates from acute necrotizing gingivitis, common in malnourished children in developing countries. In previous centuries noma was common in the Western world. The affection disappeared when economical progress permitted the poorest to feed their children sufficiently. The yearly incidence of noma in the world is estimated as 140.000. The mortality is ± 90%. The facial deformities of those who survive noma are generally serious. Beside facial mutilations, oral functions are hampered (trismus, oral incontinence, impaired speech). Both prevention (improved feeding, measles vaccination) as the treatment of those who contract and survive noma are a challenge for the ‘global village’ of the modern world.

A six weeks old boy was referred to the Groningen University Hospital because of a swelling of the mucosa in the maxilla. The swelling existed for several weeks and was accidentally observed during breastfeeding by his mother. The lesions apparently did not result in oral discomfort. Clinical examination showed two white-yellow broad-based swellings on the labial site of the alveolar crest. The diagnosis was gingival cysts of newborn. No treatment was needed. After six months the cysts had disappeared spontaneously.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the large chronic diseases in the population. In The Netherlands, more than 500,000 of the 16 million inhabitants suffer from this affliction, half of them being not diagnozed. Diabetes lowers the quality of life, particularly because of complications in the long run, and shortens life expectancy. In this part of a series of two, pathogenesis, pathology, aetiology and epidemiology are discussed. The second part will deal with the therapeutic options.

MDLinx is a website that can provide information to medical professionals automatically. By using the possibilities of the Internet in a sophisticated way and by employing special software, the user can only select that information from medical journals that interests him. There is a wide choice of medical journals and after registration it is daily delivered as newsletter via e-mail free of charge. Also the supply of well- known dentistry journals is rather large. A great advantage is that it is not very difficult to give one´s personal preferences so that the use of this website need not be a hindrance for the less experienced user of the Internet.