MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study comprised 523 health science students. A well-structured online questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions based on student's general information, Patient Heath Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7 scales were used to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: SPSS-25 was used to analyze the outcome of this study. Multiple linear regression analysis test was used to assess variables which had impact on PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores among the participants. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
RESULTS: Among the 523 participants, 365 (69.55%) students were from developing countries and 158 (30.21%) from developed countries; 424 (81.1%) students were tested negative for COVID-19 and 99 (18.9%) had suffered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection during pandemic. The mean GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores were 7.16 ± 5.755 and 7.30 ± 6.166, respectively. Significant impact on anxiety levels was associated with age, gender, education status, and COVID-19 positive patient, while depression was not significantly associated with gender, COVID-19, and its reported symptoms in participants.
CONCLUSION: As the world is trying to contain the health effects of COVID-19, the psychological effects might take a longer time to be addressed. Our study highlights the dire need to identify mental well-being of health science students as this may have a direct impact on their professional commitments and future responsibilities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the MeSH keywords: artificial intelligence (AI), dentistry, AI in dentistry, neural networks and dentistry, machine learning, AI dental imaging, and AI treatment recommendations and dentistry. Two investigators performed an electronic search in 5 databases: PubMed/MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine), Scopus (Elsevier), ScienceDirect databases (Elsevier), Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), and the Cochrane Collaboration (Wiley). The English language articles reporting on AI in different dental specialties were screened for eligibility. Thirty-two full-text articles were selected and systematically analyzed according to a predefined inclusion criterion. These articles were analyzed as per a specific research question, and the relevant data based on article general characteristics, study and control groups, assessment methods, outcomes, and quality assessment were extracted.
RESULTS: The initial search identified 175 articles related to AI in dentistry based on the title and abstracts. The full text of 38 articles was assessed for eligibility to exclude studies not fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Six articles not related to AI in dentistry were excluded. Thirty-two articles were included in the systematic review. It was revealed that AI provides accurate patient management, dental diagnosis, prediction, and decision making. Artificial intelligence appeared as a reliable modality to enhance future implications in the various fields of dentistry, i.e., diagnostic dentistry, patient management, head and neck cancer, restorative dentistry, prosthetic dental sciences, orthodontics, radiology, and periodontics.
CONCLUSION: The included studies describe that AI is a reliable tool to make dental care smooth, better, time-saving, and economical for practitioners. AI benefits them in fulfilling patient demand and expectations. The dentists can use AI to ensure quality treatment, better oral health care outcome, and achieve precision. AI can help to predict failures in clinical scenarios and depict reliable solutions. However, AI is increasing the scope of state-of-the-art models in dentistry but is still under development. Further studies are required to assess the clinical performance of AI techniques in dentistry.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the quality and outcome of studies into maxillary anterior tooth proportion and to determine whether dental proportion ratios based on different geographic regions are appropriate.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: An electronic search was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Science Direct databases. English-language articles reporting with the specific combination of medical subject heading (MeSH) key words were analyzed by 2 investigators. The titles, full text, and abstracts were scanned by investigators independently to identify articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The general characteristics, outcomes, and quality of each study were reviewed and analyzed systematically.
RESULTS: The search plan resulted in a total of 73 articles until September 2020; of which, 16 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected. The geographic distribution of the selected article revealed 12 articles from Asia, 2 from Continental Europe, and 2 from the United Kingdom. Golden percentage values of 25%, 15%, and 10% for central, lateral incisor, and canine teeth were not found. The mean predicted dental percentage was either larger or smaller than the successive widths of maxillary natural anterior teeth.
CONCLUSIONS: The golden percentage could not be used to formulate a smile design. Rather, the dental ratios should be set on a racial and ethnic basis for a population.
Materials and Methods: The present systematic review was carried out according to PRISMA guidelines. The search was carried out on PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane collaboration, Science direct, and Scopus scientific engines using selected MeSH keywords. The articles fulfilling the predefined selection criteria based on the fit and accuracy of removable partial denture (RPD) frameworks constructed from digital workflow (CAD/CAM; rapid prototyping) and conventional techniques were included.
Results: Nine full-text articles comprising 6 in vitro and 3 in vivo studies were included in this review. The digital RPDs were fabricated in all articles by CAD/CAM selective laser sintering and selective laser melting techniques. The articles that have used CAD/CAM and rapid prototyping technique demonstrated better fit and accuracy as compared to the RPDs fabricated through conventional techniques. The least gaps between the framework and cast (41.677 ± 15.546 μm) were found in RPDs constructed through digital CAD/CAM systems.
Conclusion: A better accuracy was achieved using CAD/CAM and rapid prototyping techniques. The RPD frameworks fabricated by CAD/CAM and rapid prototyping techniques had clinically acceptable fit, superior precision, and better accuracy than conventionally fabricated RPD frameworks.
Results: The mean age of patients in group 1 was 6.8 ± 2.1 years, group 2: 8.15 ± 2.27 years, group 3: 7.5 ± 2.3 years, and group 4: 7.27 ± 1.68 years. The intragroup comparisons of heart rate and facial image scores have shown a significant difference in before and after dental treatment procedures. Marked reduction in heart rate and facial image scale scores were found in patients belonging to group 1 (mobile applications) and group 2 (dental video songs). An increase in heart rate and facial image scale scores was seen in group 3 (tell-show-do) and the control group.
Conclusion: The paediatric dental anxiety is a common finding in dental clinics. Behavior modification techniques like smartphone applications, "little lovely dentist," and "dental songs" can alleviate dental anxiety experienced by paediatric patients. The "tell-show-do" technique although most commonly used did not prove to be beneficial in the reduction of the anxiety levels.
Results: A total of 506 dental professionals participated in the study with the response rate of 89.39%. More than half of the participants (50-75%) endorsed that teledentistry is a useful tool for improving clinical practice as well as patient care. Two-thirds of the participants (69.96%) considered that teledentistry would reduce cost for the dental practices. On the other hand, about 50-70% of dental professionals expressed their concerns regarding the security of the data and consent of patients. The most preferred communication tool for teledentistry was reported to be videoconference followed by phone. The majority of participants recommended the use of teledentistry in the specialty of oral medicine, operative dentistry, and periodontics. There was a significant difference between the age, experience of dentists, and their qualifications with domains of teledentistry.
Conclusions: The overall impact of dental professionals towards teledentistry was positive with adequate willingness to incorporate this modality in their clinical practice. However, the perceived concerns pertaining to teledentistry are significant impediments towards its integration within the oral health system. An in-depth study of its business model and cost-benefit needs of time, especially in the context of developing countries, in order to avail the optimum benefits of teledentistry.
Materials and Methods: Fifty-nine children were recruited in this study that were allocated randomly into each group with twenty children as follows: group 1: pictorial, group 2: video, and group 3: control. Mean plaque and gingival scores were noted before and after the use of different interventions. Oral hygiene was categorized as "excellent," "good," and "fair." Gingival health was categorized as "healthy," "mild gingivitis," and "moderate gingivitis."
Results: Thirty-four children (57.6%) were from 12-13 years of age bracket, and 25 (42.4%) belonged to 14-16 years of age. Regarding gender, there were 37 (62.7%) males and 22 (37.3%) females. About comparison of mean gingival and plaque scores before and after interventions in each group, a significant difference was found in group 1 (p < 0.001) and group 2 (p < 0.001), as compared to group 3 where the difference in scores was not significant (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: Maintaining oral health requires the compliance of individuals to perform different methods of preventive dentistry, such as tooth brushing and use of dental floss. The use of different oral hygiene educational interventions such as pictorial and video methods have been proven and useful for hearing impaired children in improving oral health.
METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study included close-ended questions to inquire about the teaching practices of fixed prosthodontics at Bachelor of Dental Surgery level education. Electronic copies of the survey forms were sent to the heads or directors of department of prosthodontics responsible for undergraduate dental students teaching and learning in various institutes of Sindh by the help of Google forms in December 2020. The form included questions on sociodemographic details and questions inquiring the theoretical and clinical teaching practices in undergraduate fixed prosthodontics course. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 25. Frequency distribution and percentages of categorical variables were recorded.
RESULTS: Out of total 18 dental institutes of Sindh, 15 returned the completely filled form, giving a response rate of 83.3%. Seven (46.7%) schools teach various fixed prosthesis in the preclinical years to their students. All 15 colleges carry out didactic teaching and provide exposure by live clinical demonstrations for various fixed prosthesis. Faculty of 12 (80%) dental colleges where fixed prostheses are being constructed in the dental outpatient department mentioned that their students observe or assist the clinical procedures during their clinical rotation; but none of the students fabricate any type of fixed prosthesis in the clinical setting during their undergraduate years.
CONCLUSION: Didactic teaching and live clinical demonstrations of fixed prosthodontics is being carried out in all dental colleges of Sindh. Almost half of the dental schools teach crown preparation on phantom teeth during their preclinical course. Contrary to this, none of the students fabricate any type of fixed prosthesis in the clinical setting during their undergraduate years. As these procedures are not included in the current undergraduate curriculum, recommendations should be forwarded to governing educational body of the country to include cases of fixed prosthesis in their skill set prior to their graduation.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is an assessment of siRNA-COG3 on proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis of OC cells. In addition, siRNA-COG3 may prevent the growth of OC cancer in mice with tumors.
METHODS: Primary OC cell lines will be treated with siRNA-COG3 to assay YKL40 and identified angiogenesis by Tube-like structure formation in HOMECs. The Golgi morphology was analyzed using Immunofluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, the effects of siRNA-COG3 on the proliferation and apoptosis of cells were evaluated using MTT and TUNEL assays. Clones of the HOSEpiC OC cell line were subcutaneously implanted in FVB/N mice. Mice were treated after two weeks of injection of cells using siRNA-COG3. Tumor development suppression was detected by D-luciferin. RT-PCR and western blotting analyses were applied to determine COG3, MT1- MMP, SNAP23, and YKL40 expression to investigate the effects of COG3 gene knockdown.
RESULTS: siRNA-COG3 exhibited a substantial effect in suppressing tumor growth in mice. It dramatically reduced OC cell proliferation and triggered apoptosis (all p < 0.01). Inhibition of COG3, YKL-40, and MT1-MPP led to suppression of angiogenesis and reduction of microvessel density through SNAP23 in OC cells.
CONCLUSION: Overall, by knockdown of the COG3 gene, MT1-MMP and YKL40 were dropped, leading to suppressed angiogenesis along with decreasing migration and proliferation. SiRNACOG3 may be an ideal agent to consider for clinical trial assessment therapy for OC, especially when an antiangiogenic SNAR-pathway targeting drug.