A Female Patient Recently Diagnosed with Sjogren Syndrome Presents to the Dental Office Seeking Upper and Lower Complete Dentures.

Sjogren syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmune disease associated with the immune-mediated destruction of exocrine glands, primarily the salivary and lacrimal glands. As a result, patients have xerophthalmia and xerostomia (Sicca syndrome). The diagnosis of SS can be difficult due to its multifactorial nature and often insidious symptoms, and there is no one test for its diagnosis. The many oral manifestations in SS stemming from the xerostomia present challenges to the treating dentist. Dentists should be knowledgeable about SS and its palliative care to help improve their patients' quality of life.

A Patient Diagnosed with Bulimia Reports to the Dental Office Seeking Cosmetic Dental Work.

Bulimia nervosa (BN) is a serious psychiatric illness that typically occurs in adolescents and young adults. It is characterized by recurring episodes of consuming large amounts of food with an inappropriate compensatory behavior of purging to prevent weight gain. The purging behavior results in oral manifestations such as dental erosion, dental caries, sialadenosis, and oral mucosal trauma. Medical complications include electrolyte imbalances, esophageal rupture, and renal and cardiovascular failure. Treatment of BN involves psychosocial and psychopharmacologic approaches. Dentists are in a unique position to recognize patients with BN and help patients with BN and other eating disorders.

A Pregnant Patient (First Trimester) Reporting for Pain in Relation to the Maxillary Left First Molar Was Prescribed a Full Mouth Series Radiographs in the Dental Office.

This case scenario shows the value of conducting a thorough clinical examination that will direct appropriate radiographic selection and prescription criteria to be able to arrive at a diagnosis. Proper management of a patient's chief complaint and imaging needs during pregnancy is of utmost importance. It is prudent to limit ionizing radiation during the first trimester to what is minimally needed and defer elective imaging until after the birth of the baby. It is important for dental health care providers to do what is necessary for the patient for the emergent situation and postpone all elective imaging and follow the published FDA/ADA radiographic selection criteria.

Desinfección y esterilización en odontología frente al COVID-19 / Disinfection and sterilization in dentistry against COVID-19 / Desinfecção e esterilização em odontologia contra a COVID-19

A partir de la declaración de la Organización Mundial de la Salud del comienzo de la pandemia COVID-19 causada por el virus SARS-CoV-2 en marzo de 2020, los profesionales de la salud se vieron expuestos a esta enfermedad altamente contagiosa y potencialmente mortal que generó múltiples desafíos a toda la comunidad científica. Provocando cambios de paradigmas en la atención de los pacientes y en el uso de las barreras de protección personal. A nivel mundial se crearon múltiples protocolos para la atención odontológica a medida que se iba desarrollando e investigando el comportamiento del virus. Esta revisión bibliográfica resume las indicaciones y recomendaciones basadas en las evidencias disponibles para disminuir las posibilidades de contaminación ante la exposición a este virus, incluyendo medidas a utilizar desde el ingreso del paciente, los métodos de protección personal, la descontaminación y esterilización del material, así como también la desinfección del área de trabajo. Aunque se ha hecho un gran esfuerzo por mejorar los procesos de bioseguridad a nivel científico tecnológico, hay evidencias de que el factor humano sigue siendo el eslabón más débil de esta cadena.

Since the declaration by the World Health Organization of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in March 2020, health professionals were exposed to this highly contagious and potentially fatal disease that generated multiple challenges to the entire scientific community. It caused paradigm shifts in patient care and in the use of personal protective barriers. Multiple protocols for dental care were created worldwide as the behavior of the virus was developed and investigated. This bibliographic review summarizes the indications and recommendations based on the available evidence to reduce the possibilities of contamination when exposed to this virus, including measures to be used from patient admission, personal protection methods, decontamination and sterilization of material, as well as disinfection of the work area. Although a great effort has been made to improve biosafety processes at the scientific and technological level, there is evidence that the human factor continues to be the weakest link in this chain.

Desde a declaração pela Organização Mundial da Saúde do início da pandemia de COVID-19 causada pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2 em março de 2020, os profissionais de saúde foram expostos a essa doença altamente contagiosa e potencialmente fatal, que criou vários desafios para toda a comunidade científica. Ela causou mudanças de paradigma no atendimento ao paciente e no uso de barreiras de proteção individual. Em todo o mundo, vários protocolos para atendimento odontológico foram criados à medida que o comportamento do vírus foi desenvolvido e pesquisado. Esta revisão da literatura resume as indicações e recomendações baseadas em evidências para reduzir a probabilidade de contaminação por exposição a esse vírus, incluindo medidas a serem usadas desde a admissão do paciente, métodos de proteção individual, descontaminação e esterilização de equipamentos, bem como desinfecção da área de trabalho. Embora muitos esforços tenham sido feitos para melhorar os processos de biossegurança em nível científico e tecnológico, há evidências de que o fator humano continua sendo o elo mais fraco dessa cadeia.

Patient Safety Culture Analysis in Dental Hospital Using Dental Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture Questionnaire: A Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation Study.

BACKGROUND: The culture of safety and patient safety management in dental practice lags compared with medical practice. Hospitals strive to pursue quality and safety of healthcare services, with evidence of patient safety incidents in medical practice demonstrating the importance of promoting a safety culture. Measuring patient safety culture is a necessary first step to improving safety culture in clinical settings. As a hospital, dental hospital should improve the quality and culture of patient safety. Thus, our objective was to conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of a US measure of dental office patient safety culture for use in Indonesian dental hospitals. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 respondents at a dental hospital in Java, Indonesia. The first stage includes cultural adaptation and translation, followed by developing a questionnaire that was tested through expert agreement and analysis of validity and reliability using Spearman, Cronbach correlation coefficients, and correlation coefficients between classes. The Dental Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture consists of 58 items and 10 dimensions (overall perceptions of patient safety and quality, organizational learning, teamwork, staff training, work pressure and pace, management support for patient safety, office processes and standardization, communication about errors, communication openness, and patient care tracking/follow-up). RESULTS: A total of 200 respondents with a response rate of 61.5% and 77 invalid responses due to incomplete filling, so 123 respondents were analyzed. The validity test results on 38 question items from 10 dimensions, with a sign of 0.05%, 35 items are declared valid. CONCLUSIONS: The Indonesian version of the Dental Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture shows good validity and good reliability and has the potential to be used to evaluate patient safety culture in dental hospitals in Indonesia.

Reduction of aerosol dissemination in a dental area generated by high-speed and scaler ultrasonic devices employing the "Prime Protector".

The use of an external dome aerosol containment device (Prime Protector) is proposed to reduce the spread of particles within the dental office. Hence, the aim of our study was to compare the spread of bioaerosols generated by a High-speed Handpiece (HH) and an Ultrasonic Prophylaxis Device (UPD), with and without the Prime Protector dome (PP) by counting Colony Forming Units (CFU) of Lactobacillus casei Shirota, at different distances on the x and y axis. The PP was located considering the parallelism between the base of the dome and the frontal plane of the simulator, aligning the center of the mouth with the center of the dome. The PP dome measurements are 560.0mm x 255.0mm x 5mm. Petri dishes were placed at 0.5 m, 1 m and 1.5 m respectively. Aerosol generation in the laboratory environment was done three times with the following experimental groups 1) HH, 2) HH-PP, 3) UPD, 4) UPD-PP. Each dental device activation (HH and UPD) had a time frame of 2 minutes on the upper anterior teeth of the dental phantom with a liquid suspension containing Lactobacillus casei Shirota (YAKULT 0836A 0123; 1027F 0407). Air pressure and ventilation were parameterized. No separate high-volume evacuation used, nor was there any air removal attached to the dome. Results showed no significant difference between distance and axis in the CFU count. When means for devices and distances were compared between each of them all showed significant differences except for UPD and UPD-PP (p <0,004). In conclusion, external devices like Prime Protector could help decrease aerosol diffusion during high-speed handpiece activation. However, this dome does not replace the use of PPE inside dental clinics.

Hepatitis-virus-positive patients management in dental office.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the liver, which can be caused by several viruses including hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. This condition can affect the oral health of patients and increase the risk of complications during dental management. The clinical management of hepatitis patients in the dental setting requires a comprehensive and individualized approach to ensure safety and optimal treatment outcomes. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current literature on the dental management of patients with different forms of hepatitis. METHODS: The article focuses on the specific challenges associated with dental treatments in hepatitis patients, including increased risk of infection and bleeding. Additionally, the article provides recommendations for dental practitioners, including infection control measures, communication with medical providers, and the use of prophylactic antibiotics. RESULTS: The authors show that the dental management of patients with hepatitis requires a thorough understanding of the specific challenges associated with this condition, as well as the implementation of appropriate preventive measures to ensure the safety and well-being of these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to better understand the impact of hepatitis on oral health and the most effective approaches to managing dental treatments in this patient population.

An Adolescent Patient Reports to Dental Office for Pain in Relation to Mandibular Molar with an Incidental Palpable Thrill in the Submandibular Region.

A young female patient presents to a dental clinic for treatment of swelling and pain. Clinical examination and testing are completed revealing concomitant, suspected vascular pathology of the head and neck area. An endodontic diagnosis is made, but an unusual clinical finding of a vascular entity, not typically considered by dentists, requires interdisciplinary assessment and management with vascular surgery before surgical intervention of the oral cavity.

Comparison of Oropharyngeal Oxygen Pooling and Suctioning During Intubated and Nonintubated Dental Office-Based Anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE: The risk of a spontaneous surgical fire increases as oxygen concentrations surrounding the surgical site rise above the normal atmospheric level of 21%. Previously published in vitro findings imply this phenomenon (termed oxygen pooling) occurs during dental procedures under sedation and general anesthesia; however, it has not been clinically documented. METHODS: Thirty-one children classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II between 2 and 6 years of age undergoing office-based general anesthesia for complete dental rehabilitation were monitored for intraoral ambient oxygen concentration, end-tidal CO2, and respiratory rate changes immediately following nasotracheal intubation or insertion of nasopharyngeal airways, followed by high-speed suctioning of the oral cavity during simulated dental treatment. RESULTS: Mean ambient intraoral oxygen concentrations ranging from 46.9% to 72.1%, levels consistent with oxygen pooling, occurred in the nasopharyngeal airway group prior to the introduction of high-speed oral suctioning. However, 1 minute of suctioning reversed the oxygen pooling to 31.2%. Oropharyngeal ambient oxygen concentrations in patients with uncuffed endotracheal tubes ranged from 24.1% to 26.6% prior to high-speed suctioning, which reversed the pooling to 21.1% after 1 minute. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated significant oxygen pooling with nasopharyngeal airway use before and after high-speed suctioning. Uncuffed endotracheal intubation showed minimal pooling, which was reversed to room air ambient oxygen concentrations after 1 minute of suctioning.

High-Speed Dental Instruments: An Investigation of Protein-Contaminated Dental Handpieces with the Bicinchoninic Acid Assay in Dental Offices in Styria, Austria.

Due to permanent contact with bodily secretions such as blood and saliva, the dental workplace poses a high risk of infection for patients as well as for personnel. High-speed dental instruments are still considered one of the major hygienic risks, as the high-speed rotation of the attachments leads to the retraction of infectious material from patients' oral cavities. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which dental handpieces are contaminated after use. Spray-water samples were taken from different handpieces used in seven dental offices and protein concentrations were measured photometrically. In the first part of the study, samples were collected from each handpiece before and after the treatment of the patients. Additionally, the changes in protein concentration after consecutive treatments in which the same high-speed dental instrument was used were investigated. The results demonstrated measurable protein concentrations in 91.2% of a total of 398 samples, and 96.4% of the spray-water samples taken after treatment showed a discrepancy from the initial measured protein concentration. In 68.4% an increase in protein concentration was observed, whereas in 27.9% a decrease was measured. In conclusion, the internal contamination of high-speed dental instruments frequently occurs in daily usage and consequently may lead to the transmission of infectious agents by flushing the contaminated water out of the spray water tubes. Moreover, it must be pointed out that internal cleansing of handpieces is insufficient and that a final mechanical disinfection is indispensable.

Análisis de la calidad de vida relacionada con salud oral en adultos con maloclusión / Analysis of the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults with Malocclusion / Análise da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal em adultos com má oclusão

aquellos pacientes que requirieron tratamiento de ortodoncia informaron impactos negativos en su calidad de vida relacionada con salud oral, en comparación con aquellos pacientes conclusión normal. El objetivo fue analizar la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud oral en pacientes con diferentes niveles de severidad de maloclusión que acudieron a consultorios odontológicos públicos de Paraguay durante el 2017. Materiales y métodos: estudio transversal. Se midieron variables sociodemográficas (como sexo, edad, residencia y nivel de estudios) y variables clínicas (como diastema, máxima irregularidad anterior maxilar y mandibular, resalte incisal y mordida cruzada anterior). Se utilizó el cuestionario Perfil de Impacto de Salud Oral en su versión paraguaya (ohip-14Py) y el Índice de Estética Dental (IED). Resultados: formaron parte del estudio 269 pacientes, la mayoría mujeres (75.1 %). El puntaje IED fue de 31.6 ± 11.6. Se observó resalte incisal aumentado (>2 mm) en poco más de la mitad (52.4 %) y una baja frecuencia de mordida cruzada anterior (5.9 %) y mordida abierta (10.0 %). Al evaluar por dimensiones, la incapacidad psicológica (p = 0.028), social (p = 0.034) y la minusvalía (p = 0.552) aumentaron conforme el nivel de severidad de maloclusión, por lo que fueron estadísticamente significativas las dos primeras. Conclusión: conforme aumenta la gravedad de la maloclusión, disminuye significativamente la calidad de vida oral para las dimensiones incapacidad psicológica e incapacidad social.

Patients requiring orthodontic treatment reported negative impacts on oral health-related qual-ity of life compared to patients with normal occlusion. Objective: To analyze the oral health-related quality of life in patients with different levels of severity of malocclusion attending public dental offices in Paraguay in 2017. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. Both, the sociodemographic variables, like sex, age, res-idence, and educational level, and the clinical variables, like diastema, maximum anterior maxillary, and mandibular irregularity, incisal overhang, and anterior crossbite were measured. The Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire was used in its Paraguayan version (ohip-14Py) and the Dental Aesthetic Index (ied) scale. Results: A total of 269 patients were a part of the study. Moreover, 75.1 % of them were women. The ied score was 31.4 ± 11.6. An increase in the incisal protrusion (>2 mm) was seen in 52.4 % of the patients. Whereas a low frequency of anterior crossbite and open bite were seen in 5.9 % and 10.0 % of the population, respec-tively. While conducting an evaluation based on the dimensions, the psychological disability (p = 0.028), social disability (p = 0.034), and handicap (p = 0.552) increased according to the level of severity of malocclusion, being statistically significant in the first two. Conclusion: As the severity of the level of malocclusion increases, the oral quality of life decreases for the psychological disability and social disability dimensions.

os pacientes que necessitaram de tratamento ortodôntico relataram impactos negativos na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal em comparação aos pacientes com oclusão normal. Objetivo:analisar a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal em pacientes com diferentes graus de severi-dade da má oclusão que compareceram a consultórios odontológicos públicos no Paraguai durante o ano de 2017. Metodologia: estudo transversal. Foram mensuradas variáveis sociodemográficas como sexo, idade, residência e escolaridade e variáveis clínicas como diastema, irregularidade anterior maxilar e mandibular máxima, sobressaliência incisal e mordida cruzada anterior. Foram utilizados o questioná-rio Perfil de Impacto em Saúde Bucal em sua versão paraguaia (ohip-14Py) e o Índice de Estética Dental (ied). Resultados: fizeram parte do estudo 269 pacientes, sendo a maioria mulheres (75,1 %). A pontuação do ied foi de 31,6 ± 11,6. Observou-se aumento da saliência incisal (>2 mm) em pouco mais da metade (52,4 %) dos pacientes, além de baixa frequência de mordida cruzada anterior (5,9 %) e mordida aberta (10,0 %). Ao avaliar por dimensões, a incapacidade psicológica (p = 0,028), incapacidade social (p = 0,034) e desvantagem (p = 0,552) aumentaram de acordo com o grau de severidade da má oclusão, sendo as duas primeiras estatisticamente significativas. Conclusão: à medida que a gravidade da má oclusão aumenta, a qualidade de vida oral diminui significativamente para as dimensões de incapacidade psicológica e incapacidade social.

Les risques de contamination infectieuse des praticiens dans les cabinets dentaires de Conakry: origine, conséquence et prévention / The risks of infectious contamination of practitioners in dental practices in Conakry: origin, consequence and prevention

INTRODUCTION: La pratique de la dentisterie implique un risque d'exposition à des microorganismes responsables de nombreuses maladies telles que l'Hépatite, la COVID-19, le VIH-SIDA. OBJECTIFS: Contribuer à l'étude des risques de contamination infectieuse des praticiens. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Il s'agissait d'une étude transversale de type descriptive d'une durée de quatre mois allant de juin à septembre 2022. RÉSULTATS: Parmi les 100 praticiens interrogés, les chirurgiens-dentistes ont été les plus représentés avec un taux de 63%. Moins de la moitié des praticiens soit 46% avaient une expérience professionnelle compris entre 5 et 10 ans. Parmi nos enquêtés, 62% connaissaient les techniques de prévention d'hygiène. 76% ont été vaccinés contre la COVID-19 et 49% ont été vaccinés contre l'Hépatite B et 65% ont affirmé avoir été piqués ou coupés par un objet souillé. CONCLUSION: Il ressort de cette étude la nécessité de sensibiliser les praticiens sur les mesures de prévention contre les infections au cabinet dentaire.

INTRODUCTION: The practice of dentistry involves a risk of exposure to microorganisms responsible for many diseases such as Hepatitis, COVID-19, HIV-AIDS. OBJECTIVE: Contribute to the study of the risks of infectious contamination of practitioners. METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study lasting four months from June to September 2022. RESULTS: Among the 100 practitioners questioned, dental surgeons were the most represented with a rate of 63%. Less than half of the practitioners, or 46%, had professional experience of between 5 and 10 years. Among our respondents, 62% knew the hygiene prevention techniques. 76% had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and 49% had been vaccinated against Hepatitis B and 65% said they had been bitten or cut by a soiled object. CONCLUSION: This study shows the need to educate practitioners on preventive measures against infections in the dental office.

Clinical Dental Hygienists' Experience Returning to Work After Closure of Dental Offices Due to COVID-19: A qualitative study.

Purpose: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare providers includes physical, psychological, financial, and childcare issues. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of dental hygienists returning to clinical practice after the March 2020 closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A qualitative phenomenological research design was used with virtual focus groups. Clinical dental hygienists who had worked a minimum of 3 days a week prior to dental practice closures in March 2020 and had returned to work in May 2020 were invited to participate through purposive sampling on dental hygiene social media sites. Demographic data was collected prior to a one-hour focus group session. Two investigators independently analyzed and coded the data using a qualitative data analysis software program. The themes identified were used to generate a description of the major findings.Results: Data saturation was achieved with (n=35) participants for a total of 13 focus groups. Most participants were female (89%), and the average age was 40 years. The following major themes were identified: physical issues; emotional; adherence to infection control protocols; fear of contracting/transmitting COVID-19; financial stress; our career was marginalized; and let's get back and make money.Conclusion: Dental hygienists experienced similar physical and mental health stressors as other health care professionals upon returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, however dental hygienists also reported feeling marginalized and undervalued. Results from this study suggest that dental hygienists need both personal and workplace support to manage the issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to retain them in the workforce.

Is CBCT a must for the dental office?

The question is whether a CBCT machine is necessary in the dental office. Setting aside the important aspect of the financial resources of both the dentist and the patient, there is still doubt about the need for a cone-beam CT system within the practice. The possibility to perform an immediate second-level radiological examination is an unquestionable benefit for both the dentist and the patient, but it's also a luxury that (at least in Italy) obligates compliance with provisions, national and regional laws, as well as circulars and regulations. It's here, in the seemingly endless authorization requirements, training, continued education, informed consent and competence limits, that the average Italian dentist loses his way, as the path is not straightforward. The quest for the perfect CBCT protocol requires dental professionals to go back to square one, which is the question: "To have or not to have?". In the case of young patients, protection from unnecessary radiation is even more important. In Italy, this complex matter is regulated by the Ministry of Health through special guidelines aimed at growing subjects [2017]. These guidelines require adaptation of work practices and retention of documents (such as internal processes, patient information notes, informed consent, technical documentation, etc.), in addition to the ability to show documentary evidence of appropriate, complementary, contextual, integrated and undeferrable diligent application of the above. I do believe in the importance of reflecting on the cost-benefit aspect in order to decide whether having CT Cone Beam Scanning capabilities in the dental office is worth the trouble! In conclusion: yes or no to CBCT? To each his own opinion. In this respect, I'd like to ask my colleagues what the status is in their countries regarding this important topic. Is the CBCT use widespread in dental practices, are there any guidelines in place for each country? I'll look forward to your input and insights, which we will gladly publish in our journal! Reference Ministry of Health. National Guidelines for Dental Diagnostic Imaging in the Developmental Age. 2017. https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2690_ulterioriallegati_ulterioreallegato_0_alleg.pdf https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2690_allegato.pdf.

Manifestaciones orales de la viruela símica y recomendaciones para su prevención en la práctica odontológica / Oral manifestations of monkeypox and recommendations for its prevention in dental practice

El brote reciente de viruela símica ha despertado el interés de la comunidad internacional por su creciente número de contagiados en países no endémicos. Entre sus síntomas se encuentran la fiebre, dolor de cabeza, fatiga, dolor muscular, exantema y linfadenoma. La cavidad bucal es el lugar en el que suelen aparecer los primeros signos de la enfermedad. Por tanto, el objetivo de este trabajo fue establecer las principales manifestaciones orales de la viruela del mono y enumerar algunas recomendaciones de prevención. Para ello, se hizo una revisión bibliográfica entre 2012 y 2022 en la base de datos PubMed, usando las palabras clave, en inglés, monkeypox, oral manifestation y transmission. Se garantizó que, de los 14 documentos seleccionados, al menos el 80%, fueran publicaron en 2022. Las manifestaciones orales más frecuentes fueron: úlcera eritematosa, vesículas-ulcerosas y las asociadas a linfadenopatía (disfagia, odinofagia y faringitis). Entre las recomendaciones se encuentran: uso de mascarilla N95 y visores faciales, lavado constante de manos y espacios y atención de contagiados solo por eventos agudos (urgencias). Aunque no se ha confirmado, es posible que el Tecovirimat sea de ayuda en pacientes con sintomatología grave. Se concluye que es necesario que los odontólogos sepan distinguir los signos orales de la enfermedad para que contribuyan a cortar la cadena de contagio y deriven prontamente a los sospechosos para que se hagan las pruebas diagnósticas y las terapias medicamentosas de manera oportuna(AU)

The recent outbreak of monkeypox has aroused the interest of the international community due to its growing number of infections in non-endemic countries. Its symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle pain, rash, and lymphadenoma. The oral cavity is the place where the first signs of the disease usually appear. Therefore, the objective of this work was to establish the main oral manifestations of monkeypox and list some prevention recommendations. For this, a bibliographic review was carried out between 2012 and 2022 in the PubMed database, using the keywords, in English, monkeypox, oral manifestation and transmission. It was guaranteed that, of the 14 selected documents, at least 80% would be published in 2022. The most frequent oral manifestations were: erythematous ulcer, ulcer-vesicles and those associated with lymphadenopathy (dysphagia, odynophagia and pharyngitis). Among the recommendations are: use of N95 mask and face visors, constant washing of hands and spaces, and attention to those infected only due to acute events (emergencies). Although it has not been confirmed, it is possible that Tecovirimat is helpful in patients with severe symptoms. It is concluded that it is necessary for dentists to know how to distinguish the oral signs of the disease so that they contribute to breaking the chain of contagion and promptly refer suspects to diagnostic tests and drug therapies in a timely manner(AU)

Patient satisfaction regarding biosecurity protocols in the face of COVID-19, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Costa Rica / Satisfacción de los pacientes respecto a los protocolos de bioseguridad ante el COVID-19, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de Costa Rica

Abstract Biosecurity protocols are particularly important in dental practice. The aim of this research was to determine the level of patient satisfaction regarding biosecurity protocols used in the School of Dentistry of the University of Costa Rica, to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care. A survey was sent by email to all patients who received dental consultations at the School of Dentistry between April and September 2021. They were asked about sociodemographic variables (sex, age range, approved educational level, and place of origin), as well as whether they considered safe the protocols used during the dental consultation to avoid COVID-19 infections. Descriptive statistics were performed proving the absolute and relative frequency of the socio-demographic variables and the satisfaction of patients with the protocols used. A Chi-square test was used to determine if there was a difference in patient satisfaction with biosecurity protocols to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care and sociodemographic variables. 95.9% of the respondents considered the biosafety protocols used to be safe and there was no statistically significant difference between patient satisfaction with the protocols and sociodemographic variables. A large majority of patients who come to the UCR School of Dentistry are satisfied with the biosecurity protocols used to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care.

Resumen Los protocolos de bioseguridad son muy importante en la consulta odontológica. El objetivo de esta investigación fue conocer el nivel de satisfacción de los pacientes respecto a los protocolos de bioseguridad utilizados en la Facultad de Odontología para evitar los contagios por COVID-19 durante la atención dental. Se envió una encuesta por medio del correo electrónico a todos los pacientes que recibieron consulta dental en la Facultad de Odontología entre abril y setiembre del 2021. Se les consultó sobre variables sociodemográficas (sexo, rango de edad, nivel educativo aprobado y lugar de procedencia), así como si consideraban seguros los protocolos empleados durante la consulta dental para evitar los contagios por COVID-19. Se realizó estadística descriptiva estableciendo la frecuencia absoluta y relativa de las variables sociodemográficas y la satisfacción de los pacientes con los protocolos empleados en la Facultad. Se utilizó la prueba de chi cuadrado para determinar si existía diferencia en la satisfacción de los pacientes respecto a los protocolos de bioseguridad para evitar los contagios por COVID-19 durante la atención dental y las variables sociodemográficos. El 95.9% de los encuestados consideró seguros los protocolos de bioseguridad empleados y no hubo diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre la satisfacción de los pacientes con los protocolos y las variables sociodemográficas. Una gran mayoría de los pacientes que acuden a la Facultad de Odontología UCR están satisfechos con los protocolos de bioseguridad empleados para evitar los contagios por COVID-19 durante la atención dental.

Influence of different personal protective equipment on children's anxiety in dental office: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: A change in how a dentist looks may affect the child's anxiety in the dental office. This study compared the effect of conventional facial PPE versus extra PPE as reusable respirators; on the preoperative child's anxiety in the dental office. METHODS: Fifty two children were randomly allocated into 4 groups, (1) goggles + surgical mask, and (2) face shield + surgical mask versus (3) half-face respirator and (4) full-face respirator. Each child was communicated with and clinically examined by a dentist wearing the assigned PPE, and then his anxiety was assessed using CFSS-DS. Shapiro-Wilk's test was used to analyse normality. Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn's post hoc test with Bonferroni correction test, were used to analyse non-parametric anxiety score data. Correlations between different factors and anxiety scores were analysed using Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the number of anxious children in each group, boys had significantly higher scores than girls (p < 0.001) For the "Goggles and surgical mask" group and "overall". There was no significant correlation between age and anxiety scores. Children who didn't have a previous dental visit had statistically significant higher scores than children with previous experience for "Goggles and surgical mask", "Face shield and surgical mask "groups and "overall". CONCLUSIONS: Half-face and full-face respirators have not affected the child's preoperative anxiety in the dental office when compared to the conventionally used PPE. Overall, there is an association between gender and previous dental visits, and dental anxiety, however; there is no correlation between child's age and dental anxiety. Dentists dealing with children should feel free to use reusable respirators, without the risk of affecting children's anxiety in the dental office. Trial Registration This study was registered on www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov , ID: NCT05371561 on 12/05/2022.