COVID-19 pandemic and impact on dental education: perception of Brazilian dental students

Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess the perception of undergraduate students on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Brazilian dental education. Methods: This crosssectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire hosted in Google Forms platform and publicized on Instagram® and Facebook®. The questionnaire was available between July 8-27, 2020. Absolute and relative frequencies were obtained for variables of interest using Pearson's chi-squared and considering 95% confidence intervals. Prevalence of learning resource variables according to self-reported skin color, educational institution, and Brazilian region were presented using equiplots. Results: A total of 1,050 undergraduate dental students answered the questionnaire. Most students reported being in full-distance learning mode. Among the undergraduate students, 65.4% reported perceiving a very high impact in dental education, and 16.6% of students reported not being able to follow distance learning. In addition, 14% reported not having a personal laptop or desktop to study with, with this condition being more prevalent among non-white than white individuals. Conclusion: We conclude that Brazilian dental students perceived a high impact of COVID-19 on dental education, as well as one-sixth of the students reported not having adequate resources to continue with distance learning. It is important that different policies are developed at the institutional and governmental levels to reduce the impact of the pandemic on dental education

Fracture strength and failure load of CAD/CAM fabricated endocrowns performed with different designs

Aim: Endocrown restorations are commonly used to rehabilitate endodontically treated posterior teeth and their use is well-founded in these cases. However, to date, there is little scientific evidence of their behavior in anterior teeth. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the compressive strength of upper central incisors teeth, restored with glass-ceramic total crowns by the conventional anatomical core technique, and compare them to teeth restored with endocrowns with and without the presence of ferrule. Methods: Thirty teeth were randomly distributed into three groups: GE2 - endocrown group with 2 mm ferrule, GE0 - endocrown group without a ferrule, and GC - conventional crown with intraradicular post group. Crowns were cemented and teeth submitted to the 45o compression test until the fracture happened. Fractured specimens were analyzed to determine the fracture pattern. Descriptive analysis of the variables was performed and one-way analysis of variance was utilized to analyze the data for significant differences at p < 0.05. Results: The results of the control group (284.5 ± 201.05N) showed the highest fracture resistance value, followed by the 2mm group (274.54 ± 199.43N) and by the 0mm group (263.81 ± 80.05N). There was no statistically significant difference between all the groups (p = 0.964). Conclusions: The absence of a cervical enamel necklace favored a debonding of the pieces and endodontically treated anterior teeth could be restored with endocrown, which could be considered a conservative and viable treatment option

Analysis of dentistry content on Instagram®and the use of social networks by Brazilian dental students

Aim: The aim of our study was to analyze the content related to dentistry published on Instagram® and to investigate the students' profiles related to the use of social networks in a sample from a Dentistry School. Methods: This study was carried out in two stages. First, research was conducted to analyze content published on Instagram® related to dentistry. The second part investigated the profiles of students' from a dental school in relation to the use of social networks through a questionnaire. A descriptive analysis was performed and associations between the variables were tested using Fisher's exact test. Results: We found a diversified and large amount of content related to dentistry published on Instagram®, and publications that involved advertising were more prevalent in our study. There are also many publications that are violating the Code of Dental Ethics. In addition, in the second part of our study, we observed an enormous use of social networks by dental students (98.4%). Conclusions: As a result, we believe that it is important to update professionals about the ethical infractions related to social networks which could be approached during graduate courses in universities. Finally, the analyzed social network seems to be an interesting alternative for disseminating health information in order to dialogue with greater proximity to the large number of users who participate in it

Is professionally applied topical fluoride effective in treating incipient caries? A systematic review

Abstract The present systematic review aimed to investigate the effectiveness of professionally applied topical fluoride as therapeutic agent for incipient carious lesions in permanent teeth. Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) comparing the effectiveness of professionally applied topical fluoride (varnish or gel) with that of placebo, no intervention, and toothbrushing (control group) in the treatment of incipient carious lesions in permanent dentition were included. An electronic search was performed in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Virtual Health Library, Embase, and Cochrane databases, in the grey literature, and in clinical trials registered until January 2021. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane tool. The certainty of evidence was classified using GRADE. A total of 2,223 articles were screened using titles/abstracts. After full-text reading of the 22 selected studies, nine RCTs were included. Five RCTs found that topical fluoride may be effective in reversing incipient carious lesions in permanent teeth. Overall, five studies were classified as having a low risk of bias and four as having some concerns. Only descriptive analysis was performed because of the heterogeneity of the data. Studies comparing fluoride varnish with usual home care oral hygiene have demonstrated topical fluoride does not appear to be more effective in improving the appearance of incipient carious lesions. Therefore, usual home care oral hygiene with fluoride toothpaste may be sufficient to treat incipient carious lesions in permanent dentition. Further studies with greater methodological rigor are, however, required to reduce bias, to allow a meta-analysis, and to draw well-founded conclusions (CRD42019120406).

#Dentalpain: what do the brazilian Instagram® users want to mean?

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate what brazilian Instagram® users manifest when they use #dordedente (#dentalpain in portuguese). Methods: The content of 1,000 publications related to dental pain was evaluated. Through print screens posts were collected in two periods (2015 and 2020) and organized into files. Variables related to characteristics of users, publication's type, cause of pain, impact on daily life and actions take to relieve pain were collected. Data analysis was realized through the qualitative methodology of conventional content analysis and a descriptive analysis (95% CI) was performed. Results: In the first assessment period 76% of the posts referred to self-declaration of pain. Regarding to the users' characteristics, 54% were female, 20.4% male, and the remaining 25.6% were clinic/ company profiles, or it was not possible to identify the user's gender. Apparently, 34.4% of users were adults, 18.6% were adolescents and only 1.2% were children. On the other hand, in the second evaluation the vast majority (99.6%) were clinic/company profiles. In addition, 90.2% were informative posts and only 3 posts (0.6%) were related to self-declaration of pain. Conclusions:The social network Instagram® serves as an efficient means of communication for informative and advertising purposes being an interesting alternative for the dissemination of health information, and as an instrument of health surveillance