ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children's oral health and caregiver's attitude towards teledentistry. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A questionnaire was distributed to 583 caregivers of children aged between 3 and 10 years through electronic messages, which consisted of nine multiple choice questions divided into three parts. The first part included demographic data (age, gender, and educational level); the second part addressed the assessment of oral health of children by their caregivers during the lockdown, the reason and influence of the pandemic on the oral health of children; and the third part was related to caregiver's attitude towards healthcare system and teledentistry. Pearson's Chi-square test and Fisher's Exact test were used for analysis using SPSS (version 21.0). RESULT: Around 93.5% of caregivers were not satisfied with their child's oral health. Approximately 91.5% of caregivers agree that the coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected their child's oral health. Most of them think that alteration in sleep patterns is the main reason. Ninety-three percent of caregivers have been reported to utilize teledentistry during the pandemic period, but 53.2% did not know whether teledentistry could solve their child's oral healthcare problems. About 7% disagree that teledentistry can be helpful for the oral healthcare needs of children. CONCLUSION: Coronavirus disease has a negative impact on children's oral health. There is a need to increase awareness about teledentistry among caregivers in Kuwait.
Subject(s)
Caregivers , Coronavirus , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Kuwait/epidemiology , Oral Health , Pandemics , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Developing a safe and accurate surgical technique that offers higher patient satisfaction will be a great improvement in the field of oral implantology. This study was to investigate the effect of Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) on pain and swelling after flapless computer guided implant site preparation utilizing a novel surgical guide designed to be used with piezotome. METHODS: A total of thirty patients were enrolled in this study having history of bilateral extractions in the lower molar area not less than 6 months ago. One side from each patient was randomly selected for the intervention group to receive LLLT immediately after insertion of bendable one-piece implant (Rough-B Implant, Monoimplant, Novodent SA, Swizerland) using diode laser with a wavelength of 980 nm and a 100 mW energy for 1 minute. The other side received placebo LLLT and was regarded as a control group. Piezo-surgical implant site preparation was done on both sides using a third generation piezotome (Surgic Touch, Guilin Woodpecker Medical Instrument Co., Ltd, China). Pain and swelling scores were measured by utilizing a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a graded swelling scale respectively. The measurements were recorded on both sides after 2, 6 and 24 hour of the day of surgery then at 2, 3, 4 and 7 days post-surgically. RESULTS: In general, the overall scores were ranging from very mild to mild degree of pain and swelling. Females reported significantly higher pain score than males with a mean score of 20.3 ± 5.1 for females and 14.7 ± 3.1 for males (P < .05). Swelling showed no statistically significant results between females and males (P> .05). Pain scores were found to be significantly lower in the LLLT side after 2, 6, 24, 48 hour of implant insertion (P < .05). Moreover, Sweling scores were also found to be significantly lower in the LLLT side after 2, 6, 24, 48 hour, and at day 3 of implant insertion (P < .05). However, day 4 and day 7 showed very minimal if any pain and swelling with insignificant differences between the 2 sides (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: LLLT was found to be an effective non pharmacological method for relieving pain after implant insertion. Piezosurgical flapless implant placement combined with LLLT is considered an effective, tolerable and minimally invasive procedure (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01857804).
