Is Teledentistry a Method for Optimizing Dental Practice, Even in the Post-Pandemic Period? An Integrative Review.

BACKGROUND: For the past two and half years, dentists all across the world, along with their patients, have faced numerous challenges. In this context, the aim of this integrative review was to assess if dentists' and patients' attitudes regarding teledentistry (TD) have changed since the COVID-19 outbreak, and if the use of TD will continue to rise, even in the post-pandemic period; (2) Methods: A literature search was performed between August 2021 and January 2022. The PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct databases were searched for articles published between 2012 and 2022 using a combination of the following Mesh terms: "COVID-19", "pandemic", "oral telemedicine", "teledentistry"; (3) Results: Among the 52 included papers, nine papers were published between 2011 and 2019, and 43 articles were published after 2020 (12 were published in 2020, 29 papers were published in 2021, and two in 2022). Among the articles published before 2020, seven out of nine included papers were reviews, and two were original research. Among the 43 papers published after 2020, 18 were reviews and 25 original research. (4) Conclusions: Based on the results of this integrative review, there is clear evidence that the interest in teledentistry and teleassistance in the dental field has increased rapidly, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, while dental practitioners should be encouraged to keep themselves updated about new technologies, patients should also be constantly informed about their options for receiving special oral health care.

Vitamin D and Temporomandibular Disorders: What Do We Know So Far?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin with the aid of ultraviolet-B radiation, playing a variety of roles in the body. Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a group of pathological conditions involving the temporomandibular joints as well as the masticatory muscles and othersurrounding tissues. In the present narrative review, we investigated the potential role of vitamin D in the etiology of temporomandibular disorders in order todetermine whether the current knowledge supports 25-hidroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) supplementation in temporomandibular disorders associated with insufficient or deficient levels of vitamin D. METHODS: A literature research was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases, and a total of 10 articles were included for analysis. RESULTS: Among the observational studies published to date, investigating the role for vitamin D in the etiology of TMDs, six of them suggest that there is a connection between the two aspects. In this context, patients suffering from TMD, with deficient levels of vitamin D (<30 ng/mL), are most likely to benefit from supplementation, whereas individuals with vitamin D level >50ng/mL probably have little benefit from supplementation. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D might be a safe, simple, and potentially beneficial way to prevent TMDs or to reduce pain; however, more randomized and placebo-controlled trials are required before any firm conclusions can be drawn.

Gold nanorods: from anisotropy to opportunity. An evolution update.

Gold nanoparticles have drawn attention to nanomedicine for many years due to their physicochemical properties, which include: good stability; biocompatibility; easy surface chemistry and superior magnetic; and last, electronic properties. All of these properties distinguish gold nanoparticles as advantageous carriers to be exploited. The challenge to develop new gold nanostructures has led to anisotropy, a new property to exploit for various medical applications: diagnostic and imaging strategies as well as therapeutic options. Gold nanorods are the most studied anisotropic gold nanoparticles because of the presence of two absorption peaks according to their longitudinal and transversal plasmon resonances. The longitudinal surface plasmonic resonance can provide the absorption in the near-infrared region and this is an important aspect of using gold nanorods for medical purposes.