Endodontic treatment considerations in patients with special healthcare needs

Individuals with special needs may have conditions that are either present from birth, arise from environmental factors, or are acquired later in life. These conditions can significantly restrict their ability to engage in everyday activities, such as self-care tasks and essential life activities. Special needs encompass a wide range of conditions, including physical, developmental, mental, sensory, behavioral, and emotional impairments. These individuals may face challenges in communication and cooperation during dental treatment. Various medical conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, bleeding disorders, and pregnancy, also impact endodontic care. Management strategies include careful evaluation, the use of general anesthesia, and minimizing technical compromises. Dental professionals deal with individuals in their everyday routines who suffer from a variety of medical conditions and special circumstances The review further discusses considerations for patients with bleeding disorders, diabetes, lung disorders, HIV, and those undergoing cancer treatment. Finally, it highlights the unique challenges of providing endodontic care to elderly patients and COVID-19-positive individuals, emphasizing the importance of safety protocols during the pandemic.

Prevalence of Using Medicinal and Edible Plants During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Taif-Saudi Arabia

In early January 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the agent responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recently, a high percentage of patients show a high interest in natural medicines. This is mainly due to the general feeling that natural medicines are safer than synthetic drugs. This study is designed to measure the prevalence of medical and edible plants during the (COVID-19) pandemic in Taif-Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Data was collected online using a Google forms survey. The online questionnaire was distributed to participants aged 18 years or older, living in Taif city. The data were analyzed by using IBM- SPSS version 25. In this study, we collected data from 325 participants where 76.9% of the participants were females. Considering the use of plants, 25.7% of the participants reported using Cinnamon while 20% of the participants reported using Star anise. Among the users of plants, family and friends were the main advisors of using these plants at 44.62% followed by social media at 23.69%. Moreover, 62.4 % of the participants reported using plants to protect against COVID-19 while 37.5 % reported using plants in relieving the symptoms of COVID-19. There is a significant increase in the trend of using herbs and natural products among Saudi populations, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cinnamon, Star Anise, and pomegranate were the main reported plants to be used by the participants.

Over-reduction in tooth preparation

The treatment of carious lesions is the primary objective of tooth preparation and carious tissue excision. All carious lesions were previously treated invasively, or with cutting or drilling, and restoratively, or with the installation of restorative material following preparation and the elimination of carious lesion. Over-reduction simplifies laboratory work and provides for the best aesthetics and durability of the restoration, however there are clear drawbacks, including injury to the dental pulp and lessens retaining abilities and remaining resilience of the tooth. It is crucial to select the most practical entry route, which might be the labial, lingual, or purely proximal technique, in the event that a caries disease is situated on the proximal surface without compromising the enamel on the labial or lingual sides. It is not mandatory to expand the tooth preparation towards to the occlusal grooves when the disease is contained to the proximal surface since doing so will needlessly damage the tooth and make it more brittle. Whenever it is feasible, the proximal approach should be used since this encourages the maximal conservation of the quality remnant tooth structure. The decayed tissue must be eliminated while retaining the greatest amount of the natural tooth structure left upon obtaining entry to the area. The only tooth preparation required is the minimally invasive excision of carious tissue.