Oral health of schoolchildren before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic reduced access to medical services and led to an increase in complications and exacerbation of many diseases that occurred during and after the pandemic, including deterioration in oral health. One of the main oral health indicators is the index of the number of decayed, extracted, and filled primary teeth (deft) or decayed, extracted, and filled permanent teeth (DEFT). The aim of this study was to determine whether restricted access to dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a deterioration in oral health among schoolchildren. METHOD: Data of oral systematic examinations before (school year: 2018-2019) and after (school year: 2021-2022) the pandemic were used for the study. Systematic oral examinations were conducted for all primary school students from the first to ninth grades at Murska Sobota Public Health Center, and the number of decayed, filled, and extracted (due to caries) primary and permanent teeth were recorded for each student. The deft and DEFT index values before and after the pandemic were calculated and compared for students in first (age range: six to seven years) to fifth (age range: 10-11 years) grades and students in fifth to ninth (age range 14-15 years) grades, respectively. RESULTS: We found that the median deft index of the whole population before the pandemic was 3, whereas it was 2 afterwards (p < 0.01). For students in the first and second grades, the median deft index was 3 before the pandemic and 2 afterwards (p = 0.01), and for students in the third grade, it was 4 before the pandemic and 2 afterwards (p < 0.01). The median DEFT index of the whole population was 1 before the pandemic and 0 afterwards (p < 0.01). For students in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades, the median DEFT index values were 1, 2 and 2, respectively, before the pandemic and 0, 0 and 1, respectively, afterwards (p < 0.01 for seventh and eighth grades and p = 0.02 for ninth grade). CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed a lower deft/DEFT index after the pandemic, which could be explained by increased health and hygiene awareness during the pandemic, as children/parents were mostly responsible for maintaining good oral health. Limited access to dental services does not necessarily imply poor oral health (Tab. 1, Ref. 25).

Evaluation and Comparison of the Efficacy of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Allergic Asthma in Children.

Specific immunotherapy represents the only potentially curative treatment for allergic asthma. Allergens can be administered subcutaneously (SCIT) or sublingually (SLIT). The aim of the current study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of SCIT and SLIT for the treatment of allergic asthma in children. Our study included 69 children with allergic asthma who underwent immunotherapy for house dust mites or pollen for at least 3 consecutive years. After 3 years of SCIT and SLIT, the median number of asthma exacerbations in the last three months decreased from 2 to 0 (p < 0.01) and from 1 to 0 (p < 0.01), respectively. When comparing the efficacy of SCIT and SLIT, our study revealed a significantly better efficacy of SCIT only in terms of increasing lung function. The median increase in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) after 3 years was 8% with SCIT and -1% with SLIT (p < 0.01). Daily controller therapy could be withdrawn or reduced in 9 out of 16 (56.3%) children who received it before SCIT (p < 0.01) and in 19 of 29 (65.6%) children who received it before SLIT (p < 0.01), but the difference in efficacy was not significant (p = 0.88). Both SCIT and SLIT are effective treatments for allergic asthma in children.