Prevalence and Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Hesitancy Among German University Students and Employees.

COVID-19 booster hesitancy (VBH) is a serious public health challenge which acts simultaneously with the waning vaccine-elicited immunity and the emerging viral variants to prolong the pandemic interval. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 VBH among a highly educated subset of the German population and to explore the potential demographic, anamnestic, and psychosocial determinants of this problem. A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in December 2021 among German university students and employees to evaluate their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine booster (VB) doses. The study used a self-administered questionnaire that was developed and disseminated digitally, and the questionnaire inquired about participants' demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related anamnesis, COVID-19 vaccine-related anamnesis, and psychosocial predictors of COVID-19 VBH. A total of 930 participants were recruited, of which 608 (65.4%) were students, 682 (73.3%) were females, and their mean age was 29.08 ± 10.93 years. Fifty-five participants (5.9%) had been previously infected by COVID-19 and the vast majority of infections happened before the first vaccine dose. Over 95% of the participants had received at least one vaccine dose, and the most commonly administered vaccine was BNT162b2. The overall COVID-19 VB acceptance was satisfactory (87.8%) and induced by various altruistic promoters, e.g., family health protection, community health protection, and patients' health protection. The students (86.3%), the previously infected participants (76.4%), the participants who did not receive primer doses of COVID-19 vaccines (2.5 %), and those who were hospitalized (40%) and sought medical care/treatment after receiving primer doses (86.8%) were less likely to accept COVID-19 VB compared to the employees (90.7%), the participants who were not previously infected (88.6%) and those who received primer dose (91.7%), and the participants who were not hospitalized (92%) nor sought medical care/treatment after primer doses (92.9%), respectively. The perceived effectiveness of COVID-19 VB against severe illness (adjusted odds ratio "AOR": 47.65-95% confidence interval "CI": 23.65-96.49), symptomatic infection (AOR: 9.87-95% CI: 5.20-18.71), community transmission (AOR: 5.34-95% CI: 3.00-9.49) and emerging variants (AOR: 19.12-95% CI: 10.57-34.55) were key predictors for COVID-19 VB acceptance; therefore, it needs to be highlighted in vaccine messaging. In addition, the perceived safety of COVID-19 VB and ethical dilemmas of vaccine justice need to be addressed publicly.

Oral Rehabilitation of Hypodontia Patients Using an Endosseous Dental Implant: Functional and Aesthetic Results.

Hypodontia often leads to limited bone availability of the alveolar ridges. Oral rehabilitation of severe hypodontia patients is challenging. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the functional and aesthetic results after dental implants in hypodontia patients, corroborated by Albrektsson implant success criteria. Over a period of 15 years (2000-2015), a total of 43 patients were diagnosed with hypodontia and 165 dental implants were inserted. Six patients who received 10 implants were lost in the follow-up. We examined 155 implants in 37 patients between December 2015 and May 2017. Besides family history, patients evaluated the general satisfaction, functionality, and aesthetics of the implants. Study subjects were between 17 and 44 years old (mean ± SD: 21.4 ± 5.6). Hypodontia patients were missing one to five teeth (n = 28), whereas patients diagnosed with oligodontia (≥6 missing teeth, n = 9). In this study, 24 patients (64.9%) with hypodontia had a positive family history; the remaining 13 patients had no family member with hypodontia. The final follow-up time ranged between 5 and 189 months after implant placement. Orthodontic treatment was performed in 32 patients (86%) before implant placement. Rehabilitation resulted in 62% of the cases being treated with 1-2 implants and 38% treated with 3-15 implants. However, out of 155 inserted dental implants, 18 implants failed to meet Albrektsson criteria, under which two implants were removed. Only autografts were used for bone augmentation with 97 implants. More than two-thirds of the patients showed high general satisfaction and masticatory function (69.4%) as well as phonetic ability (80.6%). The aesthetic outcome was rated as excellent by 17 patients (47.2%). The findings emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary treatment of hypodontia, leading to a satisfactory, functional, and long-term fixed prosthodontics using dental implants.

Functional and aesthetic treatment outcomes after immediate jaw reconstruction using a fibula flap and dental implants.

PURPOSE: Microvascular fibula flap surgery is a reliable and effective procedure for reconstructing the jaws after tumour surgery. This procedure allows the placement of dental implants after bone consolidation. This study was designed to evaluate the oral, functional, and aesthetic rehabilitation of tumour patients with immediate fibula transfer and dental implants and included assessment of diet, speech, and aesthetics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 34 patients who underwent ablative tumour surgery and immediate jaw reconstruction using a fibula free flap with consecutive rehabilitation by dental implants. In total, 134 implants were inserted into the transferred fibula. The functional and aesthetic results were assessed using a questionnaire. Implant loss and oral excursion were compared with diet type, speech ability, functionality, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Of the 34 patients included in this study, 33 completed the questionnaire. Twenty-six patients (76%) could eat normally without the limitation of a hard or soft diet, 73% could speak intelligibly, and 31 rated the aesthetic result from good to excellent. CONCLUSION: The fibula flap with the early application of endosseous implants allowed primary immediate reconstruction of the jaw, significantly leading to functional and aesthetic satisfaction in patients who underwent ablative tumour surgery.