RESUMEN
Introduction: There is noticeable variability in reporting the prevalence of impacted teeth, which can be attributed to the variability in the age, gender, and type of populations investigated. Materials and Methods: Panoramic radiographs were examined retrospectively for patients who attended dental clinics at King Abdulaziz Medical City and the College of Dentistry at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The sampling frame for the orthodontic population included digital records of 2998 patients randomly selected from an original 8000 patients treated from 2016 to 2022 in the orthodontic clinic. For the general population, 3002 patients were randomly selected from an original 15000 patients treated at the dental college from 2016 to 2022. A tooth was considered impacted if it failed to erupt after two years of the expected complete root formation. Results: The prevalence of at least a single impacted tooth was higher in the orthodontic population (13.2 %) than in the general population (11.2 %). However, this difference was not statistically significant, p = 0.103. The orthodontic population had a significantly higher prevalence of impacted #13, #11,#23,#25. In contrast, the general population had a significantly higher prevalence of all third molars impaction (p < 0.005). Conclusion: Although the prevalence of at least a single tooth impaction between the orthodontic and general populations was not significantly different, the type of teeth differs. Hence, understanding the type of population investigated while reporting the prevalence of impacted teeth is critical in understanding the variability between different reports.
RESUMEN
Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional national study was to investigate the status of digital dental technology (DDT) adoption in Saudi Arabian undergraduate dental education. A secondary objective was to explore the impact of dental schools' funding sources to incorporate digital technologies. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the chairpersons of prosthetic sciences departments of the 27 dental schools in Saudi Arabia. If any department chairman failed to respond to the survey, a designated full-time faculty member was contacted to fill out the form. The participants were asked about the school's sector, DDT implementation in the curriculum, implemented level, their perceptions of the facilitators and challenges for incorporating DDT. Results: Of the 27 dental schools (18 public and 8 private), 26 responded to the questionnaire (response rate: 96.3%). The geographic distribution of the respondent schools was as follows: 12 schools in the central region, 6 in the western region, and 8 in other regions. Seventeen schools secure and preserve patients' records using electronic software, whereas nine schools use paper charts. Seventeen schools (64,4%) implemented DDT in their curricula. The schools that did not incorporate DDT into their undergraduate curricula were due to not being included in the curriculum (78%), lack of expertise (66%), untrained faculty and staff (44%), and cost (33%). Conclusions: This national study showed that digital components still need to be integrated into Saudi Arabian dental schools' curricula and patient care treatment. Additionally, there was no association between funding sources and the DDT implementation into the current curricula. Consequently, Saudi dental schools must emphasize the implementation and utilization of DDT to align with Saudi Vision 2030 for healthcare digitization and to graduate competent dentists in digital dental care.