ABSTRACT
Disparities exist in access to early oral health care, disproportionately impacting minority ethnic groups and populations with low socioeconomic status. Medical dental integration provides an opportunity to create a new dental access point for early prevention and intervention as well as care coordination. The Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration (WI-MDI) model expanded early access to preventive oral health services by integrating dental hygienists (DHs) into pediatric primary care and prenatal care teams to address oral health inequities with the goal of reducing dental disease. This case study will describe how DHs were incorporated into the medical care teams in Wisconsin and how legislation expanding scope of practice made this possible. Since 2019, five federally qualified health systems, one non-profit clinic, and two large health systems have enrolled in the WI-MDI project. Thirteen DHs have worked across nine clinics in the WI-MDI project and over 15,000 patient visits to a medical provider included oral health services provided by DHs from 2019 to 2023. Dental hygienists working in alternative practice models such as those demonstrated in the innovative WI-MDI approach are positioned to reduce oral health disparities through the provision of early and frequent dental prevention, intervention, and care coordination.
ABSTRACT
Everybody in the world including the health care sector has witnessed the devastating effects of COVID- 19 infection. It is an enigma to say whether COVID -19 has gone for good or not, but has definitely presented as a challenge in itself for dental professionals. Complications have escalated especially at the end of the 2nd wave, probably due to various immunosuppressant drugs that have been used for it's aggressive treatment. These cases highlights osteomyelitis of maxilla and surrounding structures in patients due raised levels of blood sugar and also due to steroidal therapy. Recent reports that have been published, show a rate of approximately 80.76% of such cases in maxilla, out of which 61.53% patients were found to be diabetic before diagnosis. These cases presents post COVID-19 osteomyelitis which is believed to be triggered by highly raised blood sugar levels in a patient who was not a known case of diabetes mellitus.
ABSTRACT
Mucormycosis is one of the most rapidly fulminating fatal mycotic infections in human beings leading to necrosis and destruction of the involved structures. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, has been associated with a wide range of opportunistic bacterial and fungal infections. Increasing case of mucormycosis has been seen in patients affected by COVID-19. This article includes a case report on diagnosis, pharmacological, surgical management, and prosthetic rehabilitation of post-COVID mucormycosis.
ABSTRACT
Adolescence is the most formative stage in the life of any human. As a result, adolescents are at an increased risk of developing mental health disorders. Even before the pandemic, the global incidence of mental health problems in the young teenage population rapidly increased. COVID-19 led to disruption in the lifestyle of adolescents, and identifying mental health problems and implementing timely interventions can reduce detrimental effects on adolescents' mental health.COVID-19 substantially impacted adolescents' mental health, and some studies report depression as high as 43.7%. This article describes the positive and negative effects of COVID-19 on adolescent mental health. Additionally, non-pharmacological interventions to help adolescents cope with the restrictions of COVID-19 were reviewed.
ABSTRACT
Introduction SARS-CoV-2 is a neurotropic, mucotropic, and sialotropic virus that can affect the salivary glands' function, taste sensations, smell, and oral mucosa integrity.1 The oral cavity is a perfect habitat for SARS-CoV-2 invasion due to the special affinity the virus has for cells with angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE2) receptors, such as those from the respiratory tract, oral mucosa, tongue, and salivary glands. Aphthous lesions with necrosis and hemorrhagic crusts have been described to manifest more regularly in older adults with immunosuppression and severe COVID-19 infection;one hypothesis for the development of aphthous lesions and/or ulcers is given due to the ACE2 receptor and the SARS-CoV-2 interaction, which could alter the epithelial lining of salivary glands and keratinocytes, causing lesions in the oral cavity.4 At the same time, different etiological factors such as infections, immune system alterations, and direct trauma to the oral mucosa or epithelium,5 may be related to the stress of a prolonged hospital stay.6 Including pressure in the oral cavity conditioned by the prone position, malposition of the endotracheal tube (mainly in the corners of the lips),7 medication-related nutritional deficiencies8 such as lopinavir, and ritonavir, oseltamivir, hydroxychloroquine, among others.9-12 Thrombotic vasculopathy secondary to COVID-19 has also been described, induced by system mediators in the microvascular walls, which impairs endothelial cells, and activates coagulation factors13 and a possible hypersensitivity reaction of the mucosa to the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the epithelium14,15;there is also the hypothesis that it could be associated with an exanthem pattern induced by the inflammatory action of the SARSCoV-2 virus,16 presented as increased levels of cytokines (including interleukin-1, tumor necrosis facto-a), and arachidonic acid metabolites (prostaglandins) secondary to the stem cell factor production and the basic fibroblast growth factor of keratinocytes from the basal layer, in relation to post-inflammatory pigmentations that could appear in areas previously affected by trauma or chronic inflammation.17 Oral manifestations in COVID-19 patients appear, on many occasions, even before respiratory symptoms, although exanthematic lesions observed in COVID-19 patients can also be observed in other viral processes. Physical examination revealed a patient in a supine position with orotracheal intubation and orogastric tube, with aphthous-type ulcers, some of them had blood crusts of different sizes on the lower lip (both skin and mucosa), dorsum, and lateral edge of the tongue, gum, and vestibular fornix (Figure 3). Initial physical examination shows the patient in a supine position supported by high-flow nasal prongs, upper and lower lips edema and ulcer-like lesions with hematic crusts on both lips (Figure 4), topical management with steroids and GELCLAIRE® Oral Gel (glycyrrhetinic acid and polyvinylpyrrolidone) is observed.
ABSTRACT
Reports of COVID-19 associated mucormycosis has exponentially increased in recent times, especially in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. It is reported to be associated with high mortality and morbidity rates and hence has emerged as a public health crisis. Covid-19 associated mucormycosis poses a diagnostic challenge for the Dentists as the clinical and radiological featuresare largely non-specific. The most common variant of mucormycosis in general is rhino-orbital and involvement of mandible is a rather uncommon presentation. Here we document a rare case of mucormycosis affecting the mandible with the concomitant presence of COVID19 infection in a diabetic patient.
ABSTRACT
Multiple lines of evidence suggest that significant lifestyle changes, including diet, exercise, sleep, stress, job status, recreation, and use of modern technologies may lead to various COVID-19 related health problems in the general population, as well as among healthcare workers [3-8]. The first part contained 21 questions gathering information about dentists' demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, marital status), work environmental conditions (e.g., average working hours per day, dental equipment, auxiliary staff, self-assessed income, etc.), dentists' lifestyle patterns (hobbies/ spare time activities, insomnia, and use of antidepressants and sleeping pills), perceptions and attitudes towards the coronavirus pandemic (e.g., sources of stress, vaccination intentions, etc.) and retirement plans. In this group, a very high level of burnout was observed regarding EE (43.13±4.80) and DP (15.13±5.04) dimensions. [...]the high dimension of performance loss was significantly related to the regular use of these medicines (p<0.001) - Table 3. Various studies have shown that the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has profound psychological and social effects, identifying significant lifestyle changes and mental health problems [2,4,11].
ABSTRACT
Aim: Different new techniques and methods have been used by the dental practitioners so that there can be reduction in the visits and the patient should be satisfied with the treatment. The purpose of our survey was to analyze the current trend in the use of prosthodontics techniques in the clinics to construct conventional CD's and RPD's. Material and method: Dentist Questionnaire was prepared which consists of 13 questions. This survey was conducted on the 50 dental professionals. The dentist approval was taken before participation and was conducted online in the view of covid-19 pandemic. Result: Most of the practitioners fabricate the acrylic RPD (68%). Maximum of the practitioners 80% selected the choice of irreversible hydrocolloid. A majority of the respondents (64%) favored mucocompressive impression philosophy. Almost all practitioners border moulded the custom tray before taking final record. Maximum prosthodontists used zinc eugenol impression paste (70%). Conclusion: From the present study it can be concluded that majority of the private dental practitioners follow shortcuts like use tap water for disinfecting impression, don't generate awareness about the CPD and flexible RPD and many of them follow their own convenient method for the treatment of prosthodontics problems.
ABSTRACT
Background: Numerous dental clinics have been forced to close due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2high)'s contagiousness as well as the fact that dental operations frequently produce blood and saliva droplets that could spread the illness. The current study was conducted to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on health and financial status, practice and attitudes and views of dentists in Pune city. Methods: In Pune city, a questionnaire survey will be administered to general dentists and specialists. 30 questions and 5 parts make up the survey. In the first segment, there were some basic demographic facts. Closed questions (yes/no questions) about the dentists' perception and its impact on their physical health make up the second segment. Financial status-related questions are asked in the third part. Questions about the shift in dental practice brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic are included in the fourth section. The survey's fifth question assesses dentists' attitudes and perspectives on the outbreak using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Overall, 187 dentists contributed to this study. There was significant variance for the questions that evaluated the responses for the Dentists' opinion and its effect on their physical health, Financial status and change in dental practice due to COVID-19 pandemic and the 5-point Likert-scale scoring to evaluate dentists' attitudes and views on the outbreak. Categorised on the basis of the field of dentistry for the question of Dentists' opinion and its effect on their physical health there was no significant variance between the various fields of dentistry except for the response of the question Take COVID-19 test for all patients where the P=0.006. Conclusion: Employees in the dental healthcare industry are most at risk of getting COVID-19. Therefore, during the pandemic, dental professionals should follow the established protocols more carefully. To lessen the danger of COVID-19 transmission, they could also cut back on their work schedules and only perform dental procedures as an absolute last resort. Additionally, in order to reduce the danger of infection, public organizations should supply the dental professionals with the necessary equipment.
ABSTRACT
Aim: An Observational Study of the Respiratory Effects of the N95 Mask During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Method and material: Pulse oximetry was used on 50 students from both sexes who were 21-26 years old, non-smokers, and did not have any chronic lung illness and were studying at Dental College and Hospital. During the research, the blood oxygen saturation was measured using the same pulse oximeter. The pupils were then advised to don a mask and not remove it until the completion of an assessment. After 5 hours, each student's blood oxygen saturation was tested again using the same pulse oximeter. Results: Total 50 students with mean age of 22.59±3.69 years were recruited in this study, among which 36 were females and 14 were males. It was discovered that before wearing the N95 mask at 8.30 am, the mean of SpO2 values was 97.02±0.21, however after removing the N95 mask at 1.30 pm, the mean of SpO2 values was 96.14±0.33 (p=0.000). When SpO2 values of males and females were compared, it was observed that males have 0.41 and females have 0.34 of standard error of mean (p=0.52). A statistically non significant difference was seen for the values between the groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: Blood oxygen saturation levels have dropped due to prolonged usage of a N95 mask by COVID-19 patients. Finding ways to mitigate these consequences is crucial for future pandemic preparedness.
ABSTRACT
According to our analysis, the majority of the published articles are of low level of evidence. Citation analysis is a bibliometric analysis method of evaluating the impact of an article in a particular field.2 The bibliometric analysis combines science with statistical and mathematical methods to provide reliable and objective information for analyzing the quality of scientific research and investigates future directions of research that can help to create specific public healthcare plans.3 Bibliometric methods have been widely used in the field of dentistry.2,4 However, to date, a study of the top-cited dental articles on COVID-19 has not been published. [...]the aim of this study was to identify the bibliometric characteristics of the top 100 most cited (T100) dental articles on COVID-19 and to discover popular trends for future studies. Letters, editorials, commentaries, technical notes, opinions, news, or perspectives were excluded from this research. [...]519 articles were obtained, and by using the option "Times Cited" in the WoS, the results were ranked in descending order based on their citation counts. Bibliometric analysis The following bibliometric parameters from WoSCC of each article were extracted: publication title, publication date, journal title, authorship, institution (as defined by the corresponding author), type of institution (public health service, university, private practice), country of the origin of the study (as defined by the corresponding author), funding status (funded or not funded), journal quartile (Q) and impact factor (IF) (from the current Clarivate journal citation reports 2019), WoSCC citation count, language, and author keywords.2 Each full text of an article was further reviewed for the study design and level of evidence (LOE) as described by Jacimovic et al.5 An internal pilot study was carried out to calibrate researchers in assessing LOE.