OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to assess knowledge and awareness regarding needle stick and sharp injury among dental personnel and compared the knowledge and awareness level about needle stick injuries between dental professionals and dental supporting staff working at the School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2016 to March 2017. The total sample included 112 registered dental personnel including dental professionals (lecturers, dental officers, and postgraduate students) and dental supportive staff (including staff nurses and dental surgery assistant) who were selected from the School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia at Kelantan District of Malaysia. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the SR, tensile strength (TS), and percentage elongation (% E) of different SEs subjected to outdoor weathering in the Malaysian climate.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Type-II dumbbell-shaped specimens (N-120) (nonweathered=15, weathered=15) were made from 3 room-temperature vulcanized (A-2000, A-2006, and A-103) and 1 heat-temperature vulcanized (M-511) silicone (Factor II). For 6 months, weathered specimens were subjected to outdoor weathering inside a custom exposure rack. Simultaneously, the nonweathered specimens were kept in a dehumidifier. Subsequently, the SR was measured with a profilometer; TS and % E were measured by using a universal testing machine. Two-way ANOVA was used to compare the means of the tested properties of the nonweathered and weathered specimens, and pairwise comparison was carried out between the silicones (α=.05).

RESULTS: After outdoor weathering, the SR, TS, and % E were adversely affected by weathering in the Malaysian environment. Among the silicone materials, A-2000 showed the least TS changes (2.51 MPa), while A-2006 demonstrated significant changes in percentage elongation after outdoor weathering (266.5%). M-511 exhibited the highest mean value (2.50 μm) for SR changes. In addition, A-103 SE showed statistically significant differences in most pairwise comparisons for all 3 dependent variables.

METHODS: Relevant articles written in English only, before January 15, 2017, were identified using an electronic search in the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. Furthermore, a manual search of the related major journals was also conducted to identify more pertinent articles. The relevancy of the articles was verified by screening the title, abstract, and full text if they met the inclusion criteria. A total of 37 articles satisfied the criteria, from which data were extracted for qualitative synthesis.

RESULTS: Among the 37 included articles, 14 were without aging, 15 were natural or artificial accelerated aging, 7 were outdoor weathering, and 1 contained both artificial aging and outdoor weathering. Only 4 studies out of the 14 without aging had significant observations; whereas 9 articles with natural or artificial aging published significant results, and 3 out of 7 outdoor weathering articles showed significant changes in the evaluated silicone elastomers.

Results: 87 articles were screened to get an update on the desired information. 74 were excluded based on a complete screening, and finally, 13 articles were recruited for complete reviewing. Discussion. The MFP is subjected to stress, which is reflected in the form of compressive and tensile strengths. The stress is mainly concentrated the resection line and around the apices of roots of teeth next to the defect. Diversity of designs and techniques were introduced to optimize the stress distribution, such as modification of the clasp design, using materials with different mechanical properties for dentures base and retainer, use of dental (DI) and/or zygomatic implants (ZI), and free flap reconstruction before prosthetic rehabilitation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The literature search was carried out on two electronic databases (PubMed and Cochrane Library). Randomized controlled trials (RCT) published from January 2011 to September 2022 were included. The bias risk was evaluated using Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0. Further screening was done for meta-analysis according to modified Newcastle-Ottawa scoring criteria. Forest plot was generated using a statistical method of inverse variance of random effect with 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS: A total of 8 randomized controlled trials were included for systematic review out of which four studies were based on tooth-supported fixed prosthesis and remaining four were based on implant-supported prosthesis. Further screening was conducted and three studies were eligible for meta-analysis. Tooth-supported fixed prosthesis fabricated from digital impression showed no significant difference in the marginal fit in any region measured, except for occlusal region where conventional impression showed more favorable marginal fit. Implant-supported prosthesis fabricated from digital impression showed survival rates ranging from 97.3 to 100% and there was no statistically significant difference in marginal bone loss (p = 0.14).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two reviewers independently searched two electronic databases, PubMed and Scopus. The search was complemented from references of included studies and published reviews. Studies published in the English language through January 2021 that had assessed and documented the clinical and radiographic failure of crown or FPD in vital permanent teeth due to pulpal or periapical pathology with a follow-up of at least 12 months were selected. Data screening, data collection and extraction of data was performed. Quality of studies involved was analyzed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies. Meta-analysis was done using random effects model. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots.

RESULTS: Electronic searches provided 10,075 records among which 20 studies were selected for systematic review and 7 studies were selected for meta-analysis. With respect to quality assessment, all the studies involved were considered as high quality as the score in scale ranged between 6 and 9 as per the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies. The meta-analyses showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of the loss of pulp vitality or pulp necrosis through clinical and radiographic examination with the follow up period of 5 years: p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.96-1.00, I2 = 77.84%; 10 years: p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.88-0.95, I2 = 93.59%; 15 years: p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.92-0.96, I2 = 94.83%; and 20 years: p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.94-0.96, I2 = 95.01%.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was carried out using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and the Web of Science Core Collection. Two reviewers searched the databases separately and concurrently. The initial search was conducted on 6 July 2021. The publishing period was unrestricted; however, the search was limited to articles involving human participants and published in English. Combinations of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) phrases and free text terms were used as search keywords in each database. The following data was taken from the methods and results sections of the selected papers: The amount of AI training datasets utilized to train the intelligent system, as well as their conditional properties; Unilateral CLP, Bilateral CLP, Unilateral Cleft lip and alveolus, Unilateral cleft lip, Hypernasality, Dental characteristics, and sagittal jaw relationship in children with CLP are among the problems studied.

RESULTS: Based on the predefined search strings with accompanying database keywords, a total of 44 articles were found in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science search results. After reading the full articles, 12 papers were included for systematic analysis.

METHODS: This study utilizes a novel method incorporating many approaches, such as the bootstrap method, a multi-layer feed-forward neural network, and ordinal logistic regression. A dataset was created based on the following factors: socio-demographic characteristics such as age and gender, as well as cleft type and category of malocclusion associated with the cleft. Training data were used to create a model, whereas testing data were used to validate it. The study is separated into two phases: phase one involves the use of a multilayer neural network and phase two involves the use of an ordinal logistic regression model to analyze the underlying association between cleft and the factors chosen.

RESULTS: The findings of the hybrid technique using ordinal logistic regression are discussed, where category acts as both a dependent variable and as the study's output. The ordinal logistic regression was used to classify the dependent variables into three categories. The suggested technique performs exceptionally well, as evidenced by a Predicted Mean Square Error (PMSE) of 2.03%.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this simulation study was to establish a reference percentage value that can be used to effectively reduce the size and polygons of the 3D mesh without drastically affecting the dimensions of the prosthesis itself.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen different maxillary palatal defects were simulated on a dental cast and scanned to create 3D casts. Digital bulbs were fabricated from the casts. Conventional bulbs for the defects were fabricated, scanned, and compared with the digital bulb to serve as a control. The polygon parameters of digital bulbs were then reduced by different percentages (75%, 50%, 25%, 10%, 5%, and 1% of the original mesh) which created a total of 105 meshes across 7 mesh groups. The reduced mesh files were compared individually with the original design in an open-source point cloud comparison software program. The parameters of comparison used in this study were Hausdorff distance (HD), Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and volume.

METHOD: Medical image data for five types of defects were selected, segmented, converted and decimated to 3D polygon models on a personal computer. The models were transferred to a computer aided design (CAD) software which aided in designing the prosthesis according to the virtual models. Two templates were designed for each defect, one by an OS (free) system and one by CS. The parameters for analyses were the virtual volume, Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff's distance (HD) and were executed by the OS point cloud comparison tool.

RESULT: There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between CS and OS when comparing the volume of the template outputs. While HD was within 0.05-4.33 mm, evaluation of the percentage similarity and spatial overlap following the DSC showed an average similarity of 67.7% between the two groups. The highest similarity was with orbito-facial prostheses (88.5%) and the lowest with facial plate prosthetics (28.7%).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An auricular prosthesis, a complete denture, and anterior and posterior crowns were constructed using conventional methods and laser scanned to create computerized 3D meshes. The meshes were optimized independently by four computer-aided design software (Meshmixer, Meshlab, Blender, and SculptGL) to 100%, 90%, 75%, 50%, and 25% levels of original file size. Upon optimization, the following parameters were virtually evaluated and compared; mesh vertices, file size, mesh surface area (SA), mesh volume (V), interpoint discrepancies (geometric similarity based on virtual point overlapping), and spatial similarity (volumetric similarity based on shape overlapping). The influence of software and optimization on surface area and volume of each prosthesis was evaluated independently using multiple linear regression.

RESULTS: There were clear observable differences in vertices, file size, surface area, and volume. The choice of software significantly influenced the overall virtual parameters of auricular prosthesis [SA: F(4,15) = 12.93, R2 = 0.67, p < 0.001. V: F(4,15) = 9.33, R2 = 0.64, p < 0.001] and complete denture [SA: F(4,15) = 10.81, R2 = 0.67, p < 0.001. V: F(4,15) = 3.50, R2 = 0.34, p = 0.030] across optimization levels. Interpoint discrepancies were however limited to <0.1mm and volumetric similarity was >97%.

Method: Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science (all databases) were searched by 2 reviewers until 29th October 2020. Articles were screened and narratively synthesized according to PRISMA-DTA guidelines based on predefined eligibility criteria. Articles that made direct reference test comparisons to human clinicians were evaluated using the MI-CLAIM checklist. The risk of bias was assessed by JBI-DTA critical appraisal, and certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach. Information regarding the quantification method of dental pain and disease, the conditional characteristics of both training and test data cohort in the machine learning, diagnostic outcomes, and diagnostic test comparisons with clinicians, where applicable, were extracted.

Results: 34 eligible articles were found for data synthesis, of which 8 articles made direct reference comparisons to human clinicians. 7 papers scored over 13 (out of the evaluated 15 points) in the MI-CLAIM approach with all papers scoring 5+ (out of 7) in JBI-DTA appraisals. GRADE approach revealed serious risks of bias and inconsistencies with most studies containing more positive cases than their true prevalence in order to facilitate machine learning. Patient-perceived symptoms and clinical history were generally found to be less reliable than radiographs or histology for training accurate machine learning models. A low agreement level between clinicians training the models was suggested to have a negative impact on the prediction accuracy. Reference comparisons found nonspecialized clinicians with less than 3 years of experience to be disadvantaged against trained models.