Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the academic training and psychosocial well-being of undergraduate dental students in Nigeria.

Background: Most educational institutions in Nigeria were shut down for a long while at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a preventive measure, and this affected dental students' academic and clinical training. Aim: To determine the influence of the pandemic on the academic, clinical training, and psychosocial well-being of dental students in Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate dental students in clinical years in Nigerian dental schools. Participants received the questionnaire through an online platform, it had four sections; socio-demographics, impact on academic training, psychosocial well-being, and an open-ended segment for participants' suggestions to challenges. A mixed method was utilized to analyze the data. The statistical significance level was P < 0.05. Results: One hundred two dental students from nine dental schools participated, with a mean age of 25.3 ± 2.4 years. There were 56 (54.9%) males. Most students, 80 (78.4%) reported that their stay-at-home had not been rewarding academically. The majority, 90 (88.2%) were worried about contracting COVID-19 on school resumption. Participants' psychosocial well-being had significant associations with gender (P = 0.001) and self-directed learning during their stay-at-home (P = 0.001). More female students, 33 (71.7%) were severely worried compared to males 20 (35.7%). Their major suggestions were to commence online teaching and examinations (40.1%) and be provided with adequate personal protective equipment (18.6%). Conclusion: Most undergraduate students in Nigeria were anxious about COVID-19, and females were more affected. This negatively impacted their academic and clinical training. This underscores the importance of adequate psychological support for undergraduate dental students by school authorities.

TREATMENT OUTCOME OF SHORT DENTAL IMPLANTS.

BACKGROUND: Bone resorption following tooth loss and proximity of the alveolar crest to vital structures such as the maxillary sinus and the inferior dental canal can be a limitation to tooth replacement with an implant. The placement of short dental implants may reduce the need for bone augmentation as bone augmentation increases the cost of providing dental implant treatment. AIM: To assess the treatment outcome and survival rate of short implants used for single and multiple teeth replacement after one year of loading and restoration. METHODOLOGY: This study included 26 patients aged 21 to 70 years with a mean of 47.24 SD ± 14.51 years that received 55 short dental implants (Bicon system, Boston, USA) for single and multiple teeth replacement at the Restorative Dentistry Clinic of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria between 2012 and 2016. Demographic data such as age, sex, location of implant, length of implant, placement technique and type of restoration (crown or bridge) were obtained from the patients' hospital records. Patients were recalled three months, six months and one year after implant placement and restoration to assess clinically for implant mobility, pain, suppuration, gingival recession and inflammation around the implant retained restorations. Marginal bone loss and peri-implant radiolucency were evaluated using periapical radiograph. RESULTS: Survival rate of short implants placed in this study was 96.4%. None of the surviving implants showed a marginal bone loss greater than 1.5mm one year after placement. None of the surviving and functional implant restoration demonstrated mobility, suppuration or peri-implant radiolucency during the review period. The 8mm implants demonstrated a statistically significantly higher survival rate compared with the 6mm implants (p=0.039). A significantly higher percentage of failure was recorded among the implants placed in the lower premolar region (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the use of short implants is a viable option in teeth replacement especially when the alveolar bone height is less than 10mm.

Partial edentulism and unmet prosthetic needs amongst young adult Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment options for missing tooth/teeth which are mostly commonly caused dental caries, periodontitis and trauma include partial dentures, bridge and implant. In developing countries, missing tooth/teeth replacement constitutes a high unmet dental need. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of partial edentulism and prosthetic unmet dental needs among young adults in Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 244 medical students of college of medicine were recruited and studied using interviewer administered questionnaire which elicited information on sociodemographic, tooth loss and replacement. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 16.0 statistical software for windows. RESULTS: There were 98 males (40.2%) and 146 females (59.8%). A total of 35 participants out of the 244 studied participants had missing tooth/teeth giving a prevalence of 14.3%. The major reason of tooth loss was caries (48.6%). The upper left (16.7%) and right (16.7%) had the highest tooth mortality. Of the 35 participants with missing teeth, 4 (11.4%) of had replacement while 31 (88.6%) did not have any form of replacement. The teeth replaced were upper right, left anterior (75%) and upper right posterior (25%). Reasons for non-replacement were not being bothered--14 (45.2%), ignorance of replacement therapy-- 7 (22.6%), misinformation--1 (3.2%) and lack of money--2 (6.5%). Those that replaced 4/42 (9.5%) did so with removable partial dentures (100%). The majority that replaced were females 3/4 (75%). Half (50%) of those that replaced were satisfied and the reasons for non-satisfaction were pain from denture and unnatural feel of denture. CONCLUSION: Data from this study revealed low prevalence of tooth loss with high unmet tooth replacement needs among the participants. Tooth/teeth replacement options should be incorporated in postoperative instructions after extraction and dental awareness should be improved among medical students.

Utilization of Teeth Replacement Service among the Elderly Attending Teaching Hospitals in Lagos; Nigeria

Background: Tooth replacement service is generally available in our environment. However; its utilization by the elderly has not been extensively studied. Aim: To determine the utilization of tooth replacement services among the elderly. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study of 440 patients aged 60 years and above attending the prosthetic out-patient clinics of Lagos University teaching hospital (LUTH) and Lagos state University teaching hospital (LASUTH) from January; 2008 to March; 2010. record books or case records: Age; sex; and number of teeth replaced. Results were collated and analyzed using Epi Info 2004. Values were presented as simple percentages. Results: There were 229/440 (52.0) males and 211/440 (48.0) females and were aged 60-90 years with a mean age of 68.9 (6.92). A total number of 4;062 teeth were replaced. Average number of tooth replaced among the patients was 9.45 for LUTH and 8.94 for LASUTH. The maxillary anterior teeth were the most frequently replaced 1422/4062 (35.0) and the least replaced were the mandibular posterior teeth 812/4062 (20.0). The average number of tooth replaced generally increased with age in both sexes. A total of 90 complete maxillary and mandibular dentures were fabricated; while six single arch complete dentures were made. The remaining were partial dentures. Conclusion: The most common age of presentation is 60-65 years. Patients that were 90 years and above appear to utilize teeth replacement facilities in this environment less than those in developed countries. Maxillary anterior teeth were the most frequently replaced