COVID-19 and Personal Protective Equipment-Related Challenges Faced by Pediatric Dentists during patient care: A Qualitative Study

Abstract Objective: To describe the challenges pediatric dentists face while caring for their patients during the pandemic. Material and Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with purposefully sampled pediatric dentists. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews until the content of the collected data reached theoretical saturation. Data were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using content analyses. Results: Seven participants (four females and three males) between 29 and 50 years participated in the study. Three themes emerged from the analyses: Anxiety and fear; PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and its impact on care delivery; and 3) Behavior management. Conclusion: Dental care delivery was challenging for pediatric dentists. They experienced high anxiety levels and modified their services according to the recommended guidelines while making accommodations to lessen patients' COVID-19-related anxiety. The additional mandated PPE use affected the communication between the dentists and their patients, affecting their dentist-patient bonding.

Evaluation of Dental Interns' Perception and Self-Confidence Levels Regarding Endodontic Treatment"- A Questionnaire Study

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the perception and self-confidence of Dental interns regarding endodontic treatment performed on patients. Material and Methods: A total of 111 dental interns from 5 different educational institutes of a state in South India participated in a questionnaire-based survey. The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions related to root canal procedures performed on patients. Analysis was done using SPSS version 17.0. Results: Sixty-five interns (59%) performed less than 10 root canal treatments on patients during the course of the internship. Twenty-eight interns (25% of the intern population) took up more than 10 root canal treatment cases, whereas only 18 interns (16%) did not perform the treatment on patients and answered the questionnaire based on their experience with extracted teeth model work. Only five interns out of 111 were 'Very confident' and 22 were 'Confident' in performing the root canal treatment. Conclusion: The present study indicates that the self-perceived confidence level among dental interns can affect their clinical performance. It also recommends additional hands-on workshops, problem-based learning and clinical guidance for the dental interns to become more confident with the root canal procedure.

Association of parental food choice motives, attitudes, and sugar exposure in the diet with early childhood caries Case–control study

Background: Parents can affect their children's diet by making some food components more accessible. Food choice motives and attitudes of the parents toward sugary food may influence children's diet. Aims: The aim of the study is to investigate the association of parental food choice motives, attitudes toward sugar consumption, and dietary sugar exposure with early childhood caries (ECC). Settings and Design: This case–control study involved 200 children, aged 3–5 years with an equal number of cases (with ECC) and controls (without ECC), based on the WHO-decay-missing-filled teeth index criteria for dental caries. Materials and Methods: The data for parental food choice motives and attitudes toward sugar consumption were obtained using questionnaire answered by their parents, and the dietary sugar exposure was calculated using a 24 h diet chart. Data were analyzed with multiple logistic regression. Results: Most parents (99.5%) considered “maintaining health and nutrition” as an important criterion, above 85% parents thought “mood of the child,” “child likes and dislikes,” “sensory appeal of the food item,” “natural foods,” “quality of the food,” and “weight control” criteria important while selecting food items, with no significant difference between cases and controls. About 61% of the cases considered buying food based on convenience is important, as compared to 47% controls, and the difference was significant. Cases and controls did not differ in attitudes toward sugar consumption. Sugar exposure was significantly higher among the cases. Conclusion: High dietary sugar exposure is associated with ECC. Parents of children with ECC are likely to buy foods for their children based on convenience and availability.

Reporting Guidelines in Health Research: A Review.

Contemporary health research has come under close scrutiny, exposing alarming fl aws in the reporting of research. The reporting guidelines can aid in identifi cation of poorly reported studies and can bring transparency to health research. The guidelines also help journal editors, peer reviewers, funding agencies, and readers to better discern health research. Reporting guidelines encourage accurate and thorough reporting of fundamental aspects of health research so that the results of studies can be replicated by others. Reporting guidelines are potent tools to improve the practice of research and in reducing reporting bias. For the present review, both electronic and manual literature search was carried out. Electronic databases like PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO host, and Science Direct were searched for extracting relevant articles. Various key words and their combinations were used for literature search like reporting guidelines, checklist, research, publishing standards, study design, medicine, and dentistry. The search results were scrutinized for relevance to the topic and only full text articles in English were incorporated. Various reporting guidelines were identifi ed and grouped under headings based on study design. This review article attempts to highlight the various reporting guidelines in literature relating to health research, its potential applications, and its limitations.

Microleakage of bonded amalgam restorations using different adhesive agents with dye under vacuum: An in vitro study.

Aim: In an effort to minimize tooth preparation, yet provide additional retention to compromised tooth structure, bonded amalgam restorations were introduced. Various resin-based adhesives have been tried earlier under bonded amalgam restorations. Still there are controversies regarding the outcome of bonded amalgam restorations regarding their adaptability to the tooth structure and microleakage. Therefore, this study was undertaken to compare the microleakage of bonded amalgam restorations using different adhesive materials. Materials and Methods: Standard Class I cavities were prepared on occlusal surfaces of 60 human molars. Teeth (n=60) were divided into three groups according to the material employed, as follows: group I: amalgam with glass ionomer cement (GIC) (type I); group II: amalgam with resin cement (Panavia F 2.0) and group III: amalgam with Copalex varnish as a control. Following restoration, the teeth were submitted to thermal cycling. The teeth were subsequently immersed in 2% rhodamine B dye under vacuum for 48 hours and sectioned to allow the assessment of microleakage under stereomicroscope. Results: The values were tabulated and the results were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey's post hoc test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Amalgam with type I GIC showed the least leakage with no statistically significant difference (P value 0.226) when compared to amalgam with Panavia F 2.0 and amalgam with varnish (P value 0.107). Conclusion: It can be concluded that bonded amalgam with type I GIC is a good alternative to amalgam with resin cement (Panavia F 2.0) and amalgam with varnish for large restorations, with the added advantages of GICs. Clinical Significance: Bonded amalgam restorations prevent over-preparation and reduce the tooth flexure. GIC type I under amalgam provides chemical bonding in between amalgam and tooth structure and thus reduces the microleakage.