It is astonishing how everything around us is evolving so fast, and today we manage to include the elements of the past in our present. There is a long history of the use of plants to improve dental health and promote oral hygiene and it is still commonly practiced among Afro-Asian communities. The plant parts when used in this manner are commonly referred to as the “chewing stick”. In India they call it “datun”. Its use still remains in the modern era of dentistry. But, is it really effective? In order to answer this question, I performed a research at Bodhi Tree school, Bodhgaya, India in august 2018, on a total of 129 students (60 female and 69 male), aged between 7-16 years. The students were split up into four groups: I (7-9y), II (10-13y), III (14-16y) and IV children with special needs. I completed the general dental check up and the incidence of colorations, dental calculus and cavities were observed. In addition, I investigated the percentage of the students which used datun (chewing stick) and those who used toothbrush for the oral hygiene. The main goal of the research was to investigate the effectiveness and the beneficial effects of the chewing stick. With the help of PubMed, Science Direct and with my results, the present study was able to lead to the really interesting and important results. Thanks to this experience and the workflow, my research won the first prize at the International Dental student Congress Dentisium 2018. The three brands of translucent resin cement produced clinically noticeable shade change on the ceramic veneer with Variolink Esthetic cement (Group 1) having the least effect on the color of the ceramic and eCEMENT (Group 2) producing the most color change.
