Quality of endodontic record-keeping and root canal obturation performed by final year undergraduate dental students: An audit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: To assess the quality of endodontic record-keeping and root canal obturation performed by undergraduate final year dental students during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dental records and dental radiographs of patients who received endodontic treatments between March 2020 and March 2022 by undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. The audit data were collected based on the European Society of Endodontology guidelines retrospectively via assessing the patient's clinical records and intraoral periapical radiograph. Root canal obturation quality was evaluated based on the following parameters: adaptation, length, taper, and mishap. A root filling is defined as satisfactory only when all four parameters were graded as acceptable. Subsequently, the data were recorded and analysed using Chi-Square test with the level of significance set at p = 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 111 patient records with 111 root canal-treated teeth were evaluated. The highest percentage of documented evidence was noted in the patient's general records, while the endodontic treatment records showed the lowest percentage of documented evidence. 78 (70.3%) of root canal-treated teeth were deemed satisfactory with acceptable adaptation, length, taper, and absence of mishap. Moreover, no statistical significance in terms of root canal filling quality was noted between anterior and posterior teeth, and between maxillary and mandibular arch. CONCLUSIONS: Although patient records and root canal fillings quality were deemed satisfactory in most cases, strict documentation requirements and continuing dental education in audit training are necessary for quality assurance.

EFFECTIVENESS OF RESIN INFILTRATION IN CARIES INHIBITION AND AESTHETIC APPEARANCE IMPROVEMENT OF WHITE-SPOT LESIONS: AN UMBRELLA REVIEW.

OBJECTIVES: Resin infiltration technique is a minimal interventive approach to manage white-spot lesions. The present umbrella review aimed to comprehensively appraise the previously published systematic reviews on the effectiveness of resin infiltration in arresting caries progression and improving the aesthetic appearance of white-spot lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten electronic databases were searched between January 1960 and May 2021. Only systematic reviews published in English on the use of resin infiltration in primary or permanent teeth were included. The degree of overlap across each review was calculated using the Corrected Covered Areas method and their evidence quality were assessed using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 assessment tool. Umbrella meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects model. RESULTS: Thirteen systematic reviews were chosen, but only eight were eligible for an umbrella meta-analysis. The overall Corrected Covered Areas value was very high (19.8%), whereas only three studies were classified as 'High Quality'. Qualitative synthesis suggested that resin infiltration demonstrated acceptable aesthetic results, whereas quantitative analysis showed favourable outcomes in minimizing the risk of caries progression (RR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.29-0.36). White-spot lesions treated with resin infiltrant in permanent teeth demonstrated a lower risk of caries progression (P < .001) than primary teeth. Overall, low data heterogeneity was observed (I2: 0%-20%). However, quantitative umbrella analysis on the aesthetic outcome was unable to perform due to limited data. CONCLUSION: Resin infiltration can be regarded as an effective treatment modality in minimizing the risk of caries progression and improving the aesthetic appearance of white-spot lesions. Future well-designed high-quality systematic reviews with long-term follow-up and more control of confounding variables are warranted.

An Insight into the Role of Marine Biopolymer Alginate in Endodontics: A Review.

Alginate is a natural marine biopolymer that has been widely used in biomedical applications, but research on its use as an endodontic material is still sparse in the literature. This pioneer review aims to summarize the emerging roles of alginate and to outline its prospective applications as a core biomaterial in endodontics. Ten electronic databases and five textbooks were used to perform a search of English-language literature on the use of alginate in endodontics published between January 1980 and June 2022. The risk of bias (RoB) of each included study was assessed using the Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) tool. Subsequently, studies were categorized into three tiers to represent the overall risk. Qualitative analysis was performed, and the articles were sorted into different thematic categories. An initial search yielded a total of 1491 articles, but only 13 articles were chosen. For most domains, all the studies were rated with 'probably low' or 'definitely low' RoB, except for domains 2 and 6. All included studies fall in the Tier 1 category and were either in vitro, in vivo, or ex vivo. Four thematic categories were identified: endodontic regeneration, intracanal medicament, filing material, and chelating agent. Based on the available evidence, alginate has emerged as a cell carrier and scaffold in regenerative endodontics, a microcapsule delivery system for intracanal medicaments, a chelating agent reinforcing material, and a root canal sealer. More well-designed experiments and clinical trials are needed to warrant the promising advent of this hydrogel-based biomaterial.