A scoping review of the impact of COVID-19 on dentistry: financial aspects.

BACKGROUND: The technological advancements of the past few decades in various aspects that are directly or indirectly related to health, along with the emphasis on public health in societal development, have improved the quality of life. However, the occurrence of pandemics and crises underscores how various aspects of individual life can be impacted. The financial consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have particularly affected the field of dentistry and public oral health. This study aims to investigate the financial effects of the COVID-19 virus on dentistry through a scoping review. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across four databases (Medline through PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Central) using keywords such as COVID-19 and its equivalents, dentistry, oral health, dental education, dental services, dental clinics, financial impact, financial opportunities and economic impact. Articles addressing the financial impact of COVID-19 on dentistry and oral health were then screened and reviewed. RESULTS: Out of 1015 articles related to COVID-19 and dentistry, 84 were focused on the financial impact of COVID-19 on dentistry. The majority of these articles originated from the United States, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, with a prevalence of cross-sectional and review articles. The review categorized the articles into two main themes: financial problems and proposed solutions. Moreover, the following themes were extracted: the effects of practice closure on dentists and staff, increased treatment costs and impacts on oral health, personal protective equipment and unforeseen costs, psychological effects of financial issues, and financial challenges within the dental education system. CONCLUSIONS: While many high-income countries seem able to mitigate COVID-19-induced financial problems, the economic effects on dentistry might persist despite the pandemic's end. These financial challenges have spurred new opportunities and infrastructure development but can pose significant risks to community oral health. This study aimed to highlight these problems and propose solutions, contributing to efforts to improve the oral health of communities globally. Further research is needed to understand long-term impacts.

Top 100 most-cited papers on diabetes mellitus in Dentistry: a bibliometric study.

This study assessed the features of the 100 most-cited papers on diabetes mellitus (DM) in dentistry using bibliometric measures. A search of the most cited papers on DM using journals included in the category "Dentistry, Oral Surgery and Medicine" in the Web of Science database up to January 2023 was performed. The complete bibliographic records of the selected papers were exported in plain text or Research Information Systems (RIS) file format. The following bibliometric indicators were collected: title, year, authors, number of citations, mean number of citations, institution, country, continent, study design, journal, impact factor, and keywords. Graphical bibliometric networks were created using the VOSviewer software. The number of citations for the 100 most-cited papers in DM research ranged from 111 to 566. Six papers each had more than 400 citations. Most were observational studies (n = 50) from the United States (USA) (n = 23) and were published in the Journal of Periodontology (30%; n=30). Robert Genco was the most cited author and contributed the most to the top 100 articles (3,653 citations; n = 13). The VOSviewer map of co-authorship showed the existence of clusters in research collaboration. The most prolific institutions were the Universities of Buffalo and Michigan (n = 6 each). "Diabetes mellitus" was the most frequent keyword, with 31 occurrences. In conclusion, the most cited studies that investigated the relationship between dentistry and DM were in periodontology. Observational studies, primarily from the USA, have been the most cited thus far.

Assessing transparency practices in dental randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate transparency practices in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in dentistry. METHODS: This meta-research study included RCTs in dentistry regardless of topic, methods, or level of detail reported. Only studies in English were considered. We searched PubMed for RCTs in dentistry published in English from December 31, 2016, to December 31, 2021. The screening was performed in duplicate, and data extracted included journal and author details, dental specialty, protocol registration, data and code sharing, conflict of interest declaration, and funding information. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed. We generated maps illustrating the reporting of transparency items by country of the corresponding author and a heat table reflecting reporting levels by dental specialty. RESULTS: A total of 844 RCTs were included. Only 12.86% of studies reported any information about data and code sharing. Protocol registration was reported for 50.36% of RCTs. Conflict of interest (83.41%) and funding (71.68%) declarations were present in most studies. Conflicts of interest and funding were consistently reported regardless of country or specialty, while data and code sharing had a low level of reporting across specialties, as well as low dissemination across the world. Protocol registration exhibited considerable variability. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the importance of RCTs for evidence-based dentistry, it is crucial that everyone who participates in the scientific production and dissemination process actively and consistently promotes adherence to transparent scientific standards, particularly registration of protocols, and sharing of data and code.

Spin in dental publications: a scoping review.

The aim of this review was to map the practice of spin in scientific publications in the dental field. After registering the review protocol (osf.io/kw5qv/), a search was conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, CENTRAL, Embase, Scopus, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and OpenGrey databases in June 2023. Any study that evaluated the presence of spin in dentistry was eligible. Data were independently extracted in duplicate by two reviewers. After removing duplicates, 4888 records were screened and 38 were selected for full-text review. Thirteen studies met the eligibility criteria, all of which detected the presence of spin in the primary studies, with the prevalence of spin ranging from 30% to 86%. The most common types of spin assessed in systematic reviews were failure to mention adverse effects of interventions and to report the number of studies/patients contributing to the meta-analysis of main outcomes. In randomized controlled trials, there was a focus on statistically significant within-group and between-group comparisons for primary or secondary outcomes (in abstract results) and claiming equivalence/noninferiority/similarity for statistically nonsignificant results (in abstract conclusions). The practice of spin is widespread in dental scientific literature among different specialties, journals, and countries. Its impact, however, remains poorly investigated.

Assessment of Digital Dentistry Knowledge and Practices Among Dental Students at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND Digital dental (DD) technologies need to be developed for dental use because of the prominent position that these technologies have recently acquired. This 21-item online questionnaire-based study aimed to assess the understanding of DD methods in 120 undergraduate dental students at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia (SA). MATERIAL AND METHODS Electronic surveys were sent to 123 dental students at different study phases (basic, preclinical, and clinical). Dental students were requested to answer the questionnaires in accordance with their knowledge, observations, particular experiences, and DD practice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, which involved numerical values and ratios. Then, the associations among study level, knowledge, practice, and study phases were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS Completed questionnaires were returned by 120 students. The chi-square test showed significant differences in relation to questions "Do you have any previous knowledge of DD?", "The field that uses DD the most is…", "Does DD provide more precise results than conventional dentistry?", and "Do you know about CAD/CAM?", with P values of 0.006, 0.000, 0.018, and 0.002, respectively. Students at clinical phase exhibited significantly higher levels of knowledge than those at the preclinical phase (P<0.01). With regard to DD practice, 73.3% of students expressed a negative viewpoint, 82.5% stated that DD is essential for the future, and half said that practicing DD will result in improvements in patient satisfaction, time consumed, and level of predictability. CONCLUSIONS Students at basic, preclinical, and clinical phases had good knowledge on DD and were motivated to practice it in future in their workplaces.

Recent Advances in Whiskers: Properties and Clinical Applications in Dentistry.

Whiskers are nanoscale, high-strength fibrous crystals with a wide range of potential applications in dentistry owing to their unique mechanical, thermal, electrical, and biological properties. They possess high strength, a high modulus of elasticity and good biocompatibility. Hence, adding these crystals to dental composites as reinforcement can considerably improve the mechanical properties and durability of restorations. Additionally, whiskers are involved in inducing the value-added differentiation of osteoblasts, odontogenic osteocytes, and pulp stem cells, and promoting the regeneration of alveolar bone, periodontal tissue, and pulp tissue. They can also enhance the mucosal barrier function, inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, control inflammation, and aid in cancer prevention. This review comprehensively summarizes the classification, properties, growth mechanisms and preparation methods of whiskers and focuses on their application in dentistry. Due to their unique physicochemical properties, excellent biological properties, and nanoscale characteristics, whiskers show great potential for application in bone, periodontal, and pulp tissue regeneration. Additionally, they can be used to prevent and treat oral cancer and improve medical devices, thus making them a promising new material in dentistry.

Estratificação de risco com participação popular e acolhimento humanizado à demanda espontânea em saúde bucal / Risk stratification with popular participation and humanized reception of same-day appointments in Oral Health

O acolhimento humanizado propicia resolutividade e integralidade no cuidado com a população. O acesso aos serviços pela população é um grande desafio na Estratégia da Saúde da Família, especialmente em razão das medidas restritivas aos processos de trabalho em Saúde Bucal, necessárias devido à pandemia de COVID-19. A estratificação de risco pode garantir o atendimento resolutivo aos usuários. O objetivo deste artigo é relatar a experiência da estratificação de risco da demanda espontânea com acolhimento humanizado na Atenção Primária à Saúde em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde em Contagem, Minas Gerais. Para o acolhimento e organização da demanda espontânea foram propostas a escuta qualificada e humanizada e a estratificação do risco, utilizando uma planilha para organização da demanda e um quadro simplificado com os principais agravos cotidianos de saúde bucal. A equipe de Saúde Bucal organiza diariamente a demanda espontânea e a estratificação aplicada é discutida e pactuada com os usuários, trazendo horizontalidade, autonomia, coletividade, valorização dos usuários e comprometimento com o cuidado. A estratificação de risco, associada ao acolhimento humanizado da demanda espontânea, valoriza o cuidado por meio desta porta de entrada no serviço. Esta estratégia empodera o usuário, tornando-o parte efetiva na ação desenvolvida. Essa iniciativa favorece a integração da equipe de Saúde Bucal com a comunidade e com os demais membros da equipe de saúde.

Humanized reception provides resolutive and comprehensive care for population. Access is a major challenge in the Family Health Strategy, especially due to the restrictive measures on oral health work processes made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. Risk stratification can guarantee resolutive care for users. The objective of this study is to report on the experience of risk stratification of same-day appointments with humanized reception in Primary Health Care in a Primary Care Unity in Contagem, Minas Gerais. We proposed qualified and humanized listening and risk stratification for the reception and same-day appointments organization using a spreadsheet for the organization of demand and a simplified table with the main daily oral health problems. The Oral Health team organizes daily the demand and the stratification applied is discussed and covenanted with the users at the end of the organization of the demand, bringing horizontality, autonomy, collectivity, user valorization and commitment to care. Risk stratification associated with the humanized reception of same-day appointments values care through this entrance door to the service, empowers the user in the sense of being heard and being an effective part of the action taken, as well as allowing the Oral Health team greater integration with the community and other members of the health team.

Fine structural human phantom in dentistry and instance tooth segmentation.

In this study, we present the development of a fine structural human phantom designed specifically for applications in dentistry. This research focused on assessing the viability of applying medical computer vision techniques to the task of segmenting individual teeth within a phantom. Using a virtual cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) system, we generated over 170,000 training datasets. These datasets were produced by varying the elemental densities and tooth sizes within the human phantom, as well as varying the X-ray spectrum, noise intensity, and projection cutoff intensity in the virtual CBCT system. The deep-learning (DL) based tooth segmentation model was trained using the generated datasets. The results demonstrate an agreement with manual contouring when applied to clinical CBCT data. Specifically, the Dice similarity coefficient exceeded 0.87, indicating the robust performance of the developed segmentation model even when virtual imaging was used. The present results show the practical utility of virtual imaging techniques in dentistry and highlight the potential of medical computer vision for enhancing precision and efficiency in dental imaging processes.

The Imperative Need for Career Counselling Sessions in the Medical and Dental Fields.

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