How are you coping with the COVID-19 pandemic? Survey of undergraduate dental students' well-being during an unexpected global event.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has led to major life changes including suspension of dental education programmes worldwide. The impact of this unexpected disruption in clinical teaching needs to be assessed. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 restriction measures on the undergraduate dental students' perception regarding their physical, mental and social well-being as well as financial stress and anxiety for their future careers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic questionnaire (Qualtrics, Provo, Utah, USA) with main themes (general well-being, academic stressors, financial implications and dental career concerns) related to the COVID-19 lockdown was sent to the undergraduate dental students at the University Of Otago, New Zealand. Participants were asked to rank their answers according to a 5-level Likert scale (strongly disagreed-strongly agreed). Other questions included demographic, fee-paying status and living situation. RESULTS: There were 301 out of 376 students who responded to the survey. Generally, the students perceived that the COVID-19 restrictions affected their behavioural and social well-being (3.20 ± 0.75) and less impact on their physical (2.75 ± 0.82) and psychological (2.79 ± 0.62) well-being. Students were significantly worried about their academic work and future careers (3.41 ± 1.20), but less concerned with their financial situation (2.74 ± 1.14). CONCLUSIONS: The study provides valuable information on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate dental students, and areas that the University should consider when providing support to the affected students. It is important that the University is proactive and prepared to deal with future pandemics effectively and efficiently.

An in vivo swine study for xeno-grafts of calcium sulfate-based bone grafts with human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs).

The purpose of this in vivo study was to evaluate the effect of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) on various resorbable calcium sulfate/calcium phosphate bone grafts in bone regeneration. Granular particles of calcium sulfate dehydrate (CSD), α-calcium sulfate hemihydrate/amorphous calcium phosphate (α-CSH/ACP), and CSD/ß-tricalcium phosphates (ß-TCP) were prepared for in vitro dissolution and implantation test. The chemical compositions of specimen residues after dissolution test were characterized by XRD. The ratios of new bone formation for implanted grafts/hDPSCs were evaluated using mandible bony defect model of Lanyu pig. All the graft systems exhibited a similar two-stage dissolution behavior and phase transformation of poor crystalline HAp. Eight weeks post-operation, the addition of hDPSCs to various graft systems showed statistically significant increasing in the ratio of new bone formation (p<0.05). Null hypothesis of hDPSCs showing no scaffold dependence in bone regeneration was rejected. The results suggest that the addition of hDPSCs to calcium sulfate based xenografts could enhance the bone regeneration in the bony defect.