State of the Oral Implantology Practice in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, strict measures of confinement and social distancing were taken. Dentists were considered essential personnel and their activity was restricted to emergency treatment. The present observational study aims to determine the situation of oral implantology practice in Spain during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a cross-sectional observational study based on the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines. An electronic survey consisting of three blocks of questions was sent to all members of the Spanish Society of Implants. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. A total of 237 participants (14.3%) responded to the questionnaire. The majority of participants (60.8%) only attended emergencies during the first 9 months of the pandemic. Despite this, 77.2% reported having performed dental implant surgeries and 75.5% indicated that they performed non-essential treatments. The activity was fully recovered by 64.1% of the surveyed dentists. The majority of dentists (90.7%) considered that sufficient/adequate preventive measures were carried out at their workplace, which possibly contributed to the fact that 49.3% were not afraid of becoming infected. This concern was significantly and directly proportionally associated with the age of the surveyed dentists. The oral implant practice was affected to a greater extent during the first 9 months of the pandemic, especially in urban areas, with a greater impact on the workload of professionals with less specialised training in oral implantology.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Apical Periodontitis and Other Oral Health Variables: A Case-Control Study

Background: The relationship between chronic inflammatory diseases and their comorbidities and correlation with periodontal diseases has become an increasing focus of research. Objectives: The aim of this case-control study was to conclude if patients suffering from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) tend to have more AP (Apical Periodontitis) than non-COPD patients. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 30 patients assigned as cases, associated with 30 control patients linked by age (+/−5 years) and sex. Results: A total of 60 patients were recorded, and a total of 12 radiographic variables were analyzed. A total of 43 (71.7%) patients were registered with PAI (Periapical Index) ≥ 3, and there was a slightly tendency in the patients from the control group 22 (73.3%) compared to those from the cases 21 (70%), respectively (p > 0.05). Conclusions: It was concluded that there was not a significant association between the levels of PAI (Periapical Index) ≥ 3 per patient in those suffering from COPD. In fact, it could be concluded that patients diagnosed with COPD tend to have more teeth with PAI ≥ 3, more endodontic treatments and their periodontitis tended to accumulate more caries. Clinical Significance: This study establishes, in a case-control study, some specific aspects of oral health in patients with COPD, as well as analyzing the importance of oral health in this disease.

Confinement by COVID-19 and Degree of Mental Health of a Sample of Students of Health Sciences.

BACKGROUND: In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, most countries have taken important measures to control the spread of the virus, such as population confinement and the closure of universities. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to evaluate how the situation resulting from COVID-19 has affected the mental health of a group of health sciences students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study with a sample of 160 people, conducted through an online survey of final-year students of dentistry, nursing and medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona. RESULTS: A total of 82.4% of students reported having suffered stress, anxiety and distress due to the pandemic situation, and 83.10% of participants are worried about not knowing when the academic year will restart. CONCLUSIONS: Confinement has negatively affected the mental health of students.

COVID-19 and oral lesions, short communication and review.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 disease first appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the pandemic in March 2020, with 40 million cases and a million deaths in October 2020. COVID-19 also includes manifestations on the skin and mucous mucosal membrane. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of the oral lesions associated to COVID-19 disease; and evaluate their clinical presentation and the hypothesized etiology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An electronic literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus and Índice Médico Español databases. The following combination of keywords and Boolean operators were used: "COVID-19 AND oral manifestations"; "COVID-19 AND oral lesions"; "COVID-19 AND mucosal lesions" ; "COVID-19 AND mucosal manifestations"; "SARS-COV-2 AND oral manifestations"; "SARS-COV-2 AND oral lesions"; "SARS-COV-2 AND mucosal lesions"; "SARS-COV-2 AND mucosal manifestations". Furthermore, the bibliography was reviewed to manually include additional articles. The risk of bias in individual studies was assessed by two blinded reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the evidence levels of the articles found will be cataloged according to the level of evidence and grade of recommendation of Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM). RESULTS: 249 articles were found in the Medline / Pubmed database. There are no additional articles in the Scopus and Índice Médico Español databases. We selected 14 articles plus 5 more articles due to manual searching. Patients presented a wide variety of oral manifestations. The most prevalent were lesions with a solution of continuity (n = 48, 73.85%) and the most frequent area was the tongue (n = 41, 52.56%). The preferred treatment for the lesions is a localized one by using rinses. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, after the bibliographic review was performed, we can expect that the COVID-19 disease can cause cutaneous and mucosal lesions as secondary manifestations. Despite more studies being needed to confirm this. Key words:COVID-19, SARS-COV-2, oral lesions, oral manifestations.