Factors relating to failure rates of dental procedures in children following comprehensive dental treatments under general anesthesia: A 2-year retrospective study.

Background and Aim: This study assessed the demographic, treatment, and patient characteristics relating to 2-year postoperative failure and success rate of 2 to 12-years-old healthy children that underwent various dental procedures during comprehensive dental treatment under general anesthesia (GA). Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted after the completion of a 2-year postoperative follow-up examination. The hospital records of all the children were reviewed by an experienced examiner. In the follow-up appointment, the clinical and radiographic evaluations of the treatments, oral hygiene, and oral hygiene practices were recorded. A P value of <0.05 was set as statistically significant. Results: Around 221 healthy children were included in the study, with a mean (SD) age of 4.92 (1.37). The most common type of failure detected 2 years postoperatively were recurrent decay (mean = 2.68, SD = 2.50), followed by stainless steel crown (SSC) open margin (mean = 0.69, SD = 1.02). Children with good oral hygiene involved the highest number of successful procedures (mean = 5.28, SD = 1.99) (P = 0.032). Children with poor oral hygiene was the factor that involved the highest number of procedure failures (mean = 8.28, SD = 3.38) (P < 0.001). The Pearson correlation coefficient showed that the younger the mean age of children during treatment under GA, the higher the rate of dental procedure failure (r = -0.202, n = 221, P < 0.01). Conclusion: The failure rate of dental procedures performed during treatment under GA was highest among younger children and children with poor oral hygiene at the time of treatment. SSC crown restoration was the most common type of dental procedure received, and recurrent decay and SSC open margin were the most common types of failure detected.

Comparative evaluation of retention and cariostatic effect of hydrophilic and hydrophobic resin-based sealants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Evidence-based information should be provided to clinicians to explain the effectiveness of hydrophilic and hydrophobic forms of resin based sealants (RBSs). Aim: To assess and evaluate the retention and cariostatic effect of hydrophilic and hydrophobic RBSs in primary and/ or permanent teeth with at least a follow-up period of 3 months. Materials and Methods: Five databases were searched up to September 2021 for randomized and non-randomized clinical trials (RCTs and non-RCTs) that evaluated the retention and cariostatic effect of hydrophilic and hydrophobic RBSs. Two authors nominated the papers, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Results: By comparing the retention rate and caries incidence between groups, pooled-effect estimates of included articles were generated. After removing duplicates from the 2,810 titles found, only 1938 remained. Twelve of these were thoroughly examined. A total of 12 papers met the inclusion criteria in qualitative analysis: seven RCTs and five non-RCTs. Only ten studies were included in the meta-analysis: five RCTs and five non-RCTs. After 12 months of follow-up, no significant difference was found in the retention of hydrophilic and hydrophobic RBSs with and without a bonding agent. After 12 months of follow-up, no significant difference was found in the cariostatic effect of hydrophilic and hydrophobic RBSs. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in retention and the cariostatic impact was found between hydrophilic and hydrophobic RBSs.

Low-level laser therapy in dentistry: Extra-oral applications.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is considered as a recent technique in the dental field. Nowadays, it is used by many clinicians in dentistry. The stimulation of the healing process and pain relief are among its most popular uses. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and review the latest extra-oral applications of LLLT in the dental field. An electronic search of English scientific papers from 2000 to 2018 was accomplished using PubMed and Google Scholar search engines. The following key words were used extra-oral, applications, LLLT, and dental field. This review demonstrates the marked effectiveness of LLLT in the management of many conditions and how it could improve the quality of life of many patients. However, LLLT is still considered a recent alternative and requires more understanding of its mechanism of action by conducting more high-quality randomized clinical trials with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods.