Oral Habits during the Lockdown from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Romanian Population.

Background and Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to changes in population daily patterns. In order to adapt oral health promotion measures for future similar conditions, the main objective of the study was to assess changes in dental hygiene and eating and smoking habits during the government lockdown in Romania. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted immediately after the end of the lockdown and consisted of 800 adult subjects. Data collection was done via an online survey. Participants were divided into two groups: non-medical/dental practitioners (N-M/D group) and medical/dental practitioners (M/D group). Results: An increased use of dental floss from 27% (pre-lockdown) to 30.5% (during lockdown) was identified in the M/D group, while the manual toothbrush usage increased to 64.8% (during lockdown) from 61.7% (pre-lockdown) in the N-MD/group. No significant differences regarding toothbrushing frequency were observed in either group. A change in the number of daily snacks was identified in both groups (3-4 snacks per day: from 11% to 20.2% in the N-M/D group, from 13.1% to 22.2% in the M/D group). The consumption of sweets as a preferred snack was also noticed. A decrease of tobacco consumers was assessed in the lockdown period (from 66.6% to 60.4% in the M/D group, from 68.5% to 61.9% in the N-/M/D group). Conclusions: Oral habits were changed during the pandemic lockdown through the increase in the frequency of the consumption of snacks and sweets and the decrease in frequency of smokers. Only minor changes were observed in oral hygiene.

Performance Assessment of Three Similar Dental Restorative Composite Materials via Raman Spectroscopy Supported by Complementary Methods Such as Hardness and Density Measurements.

(1) Background: A widespread problem in oral health is cavities produced by cariogenic bacteria that consume fermentable carbohydrates and lower pH to 5.5-6.5, thus extracting Ca2+ and phosphate ions (PO43-) from teeth. Dental restorative materials based on polymers are used to fill the gaps in damaged teeth, but their properties are different from those of dental enamel. Therefore, a question is raised about the similarity between dental composites and natural teeth in terms of density and hardness. (2) Methods: We have used Raman spectroscopy and density and microhardness measurements to compare physical characteristics of several restorative dental composites at different polymerization intervals. (3) Results: XRVHerculite®, Optishade®, and VertiseFlow® showed the very different characteristics of the physical properties following four polymerization intervals. Of the three composites, OptiShade showed the highest polymerization rate. (4) Conclusions: Only fully polymerized composites can be used in teeth restoring, because incomplete polymerization would result in cracks, pitting, and lead finally to failure.

The Reliability and Validity of Dental Indifference Scale among Romanian Young Adults.

The study aimed at examining the reliability and the validity of the Dental Indifference Scale (DIS), which measures the significant undervaluing attitude towards the state of one's oral health. The study has a cross-sectional design in which 660 young Romanian adults (Meanage = 30.69; 30.30% males) completed an online survey in which the Dental Indifference Scale was included alongside five items related to one's behavior towards oral health. The reliability was calculated by means of internal consistency and test-retest after two or three weeks. The DIS scores were associated with the questions regarding oral health habits. Although DIS is discriminatory regarding the behavior towards oral hygiene (brushing, flossing) and diet, the reliability of the scale is low (α = 0.37; ω = 0.39; Intraclass correlation coefficienttest-retest = 0.60). In comparison with prior research, no gender differences were found. In exchange, the scores for dental indifference (DI) are significantly different when it comes to comparing people with secondary education and people who are university graduates. The study shows that DIS needs to be used with caution and only with other instruments that evaluate attitudes and behaviors related to oral health which passed the test of validation in various cultural models, the Romanian one included.

Validity and Reliability of the Dental Neglect Scale among Romanian Adults.

The Dental Neglect Scale (DNS) is a well-known measure for assessing behaviours and attitudes related to oral health. However, the factor inconsistency revealed by the literature involves further investigations. The study focuses on the validation of the DNS in the case of a sample of the adult population from Romania. In this regard, data were collected online from 872 adults (616 females and 256 males). DNS reliability was examined from the perspective of internal consistency. Convergent validity was performed by associating DNS with different scales from the oral health field. In order to examine and confirm the factorial structure, the sample was broken down into two subsamples which made the subject of the exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), respectively. DNS-RO is positively associated with the scale which measures the values related to oral health (OHVS) and negatively with those that assess the impact of the oral health on life quality (OHIP-14), the distrust of the benefits of oral health services (R-DBS), and reduced need for oral care (DIS). The Cronbach's α = 0.70, McDonald's ω = 0.70 and CR = 0.77 are acceptable. Both EFA and CFA (χ2/df = 1.13; CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.017; SRMR = 0.059) support the unifactorial structure of the scale. The gender differences show that females evince greater care for oral health than male subjects. The study shows that the DNS-RO can be used to assess the behaviours and attitudes towards oral health in the case of the Romanian adult population in epidemiological studies and health promotion programs through health education.

Raman Spectroscopy as Spectral Tool for Assessing the Degree of Conversion after Curing of Two Resin-Based Materials Used in Restorative Dentistry.

(1) Background: The treatment of dental cavities and restoration of tooth shape requires specialized materials with specific clinical properties, including being easy to model, light-cured, having a natural color, reduced shrinkage, a hardness similar to hydroxyapatite, and no leakage. The dimensional stability of resin composite materials is affected by polymerization shrinkage, degree of conversion (number of π carbon bonds converted into σ ones), thermal contraction and expansion, and interactions with an aqueous environment. (2) Methods: The materials used in our investigation were two composite resins with similar polymer matrices, but different filler (micro/nano filler). To evaluate the properties of samples, we employed the pycnometer technique (pycnometer from Paul Marienfeld Gmbh, Lauda-Königshofen, Germany), RAMAN spectroscopy technique (MiniRam Equipment from B&W Tek Inc., Plainsboro Township, NJ, USA; 785 nm laser source), SEM and EDX (FEI Inspect S.). (3) Results: The size of the filler plays an important role in the polymerization: for the pycnometric results, the larger particle filler (Sample 1) seems to undergo a rapid polymerization during the 45 s curing, while the nanoparticle filer (Sample 2) needs additional curing time to fully polymerize. This is related to a much larger porosity, as proved by SEM images. The lower degree of conversion, as obtained by Raman spectroscopy, in the same geometry means that the same volume is probed for both samples, but Sample 1 is more porous, which means less amount of polymer is probed for Sample 1. (4) Conclusions: For the two composites, we obtained a degree of conversion of 59% for Sample 1 and 93% for Sample 2, after 45 s of curing.

Influence of Air-Barrier and Curing Light Distance on Conversion and Micro-Hardness of Dental Polymeric Materials.

This study aims to assess the conversion degree and hardness behavior of two new commercial dental restorative composites that have been submitted to light curing in different environments (air and glycerin, respectively) at various distances from the light source (1 to 5 mm) and to better understand the influence of the preparation conditions of the restorative materials. Through FT-IR spectrometry, the crosslinking degree of the commercial restorative materials have been investigated and different conversion values were obtained (from ~17% to ~90%) but more importantly, it was shown that the polymerization environment exhibits a significant influence on the crosslinking degree of the resin-based composites especially for obtaining degrees of higher polymerization. Additionally, the mechanical properties of the restorative materials were studied using the nanoindentation technique showing that the nano-hardness behavior is strongly influenced not only by the polymerization lamp position, but also by the chemical structure of the materials and polymerization conditions. Thus, the nanoindentation results showed that the highest nano-hardness values (~0.86 GPa) were obtained in the case of the flowable C3 composite that contains BisEMA and UDMA as a polymerizable organic matrix when crosslinked at 1 mm distance from the curing lamp using glycerin as an oxygen-inhibitor layer.

Experiential learning for adolescents - results from a 2-year school-based oral health educational program.

BACKGROUND: For oral health promotion, teenagers represent an important target group, given that appropriate personal oral hygiene and dietary behaviors are established during this period of life. Experiential learning is an educational approach where learning comes through experience. THE AIM: of the Erasmus+ project "Youth Community-Based Oral Health Learning Model" was to assess the influence of a school-based experiential education program on oral health status, knowledge and behavior among a group of schoolchildren in Bucharest. METHODS: This longitudinal interventional study started in 2015 and enrolled 120 adolescents from three public schools. At baseline, all subjects were clinically examined and received a questionnaire. They were split into two groups: the test group received three experiential lessons and control group benefited from a demonstration of tooth brushing technique. RESULTS: were presented for the test group, 76 schoolchildren, divided in two age groups: 13-14 years and 15-16 years. More children from the test group adopted twice-daily tooth brushing compared to the control group. The level of knowledge was good, but the role of a noncariogenic diet must be emphasized. CONCLUSIONS: The oral health program had positive effects on oral health knowledge and behavior among adolescents. The present study indicated that intervention using experiential learning involving dental students was effective in increasing oral health attitudes and behavior among adolescents from 13-16 years of age included in the study.