Assessment of Role of PPE in Preventing the Spread of Infection among the Dental Surgeons: A Prospective Study.

Although there is easy accessibility of infection control measures and recommendation regarding the PPE, most of the dentists failed to practice appropriate infection control measures. The aim of the current survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, perception, and attitude regarding the role of PPE among the dental care professionals in COVID-19. This is cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey conducted among dental care professionals in Tamil Nadu. The self-administered questions related to the PPE infection control measures were collected from 500 subjects. The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS (V 22.0). The frequency distribution was computed. This survey revealed that all the 500 (100%) respondents had awareness about the role of PPE in COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 500 study subjects, 93.2% had well-known knowledge about PPE, 60.4% of dentist strictly adheres to the use of PPE in routine dental practice, 80.2% of dentist mentioned PPE is safe and effective against spread of infection, and 93.4% of dentist had awareness about donning and doffing. Conclusion: From the beginning of this COVID-19, information provided by the health organization like CDC and WHO regarding the role of PPE had positive impact among the dental care professionals.

In vitro Study - Comparative Evaluation of Bond Strengths of Stainless Steel Brackets and Ceramic Brackets after Curing with the Argon Laser and the Conventional Visible Light.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the bond strengths of stainless steel brackets and ceramic brackets after treated with conventional visible light and argon laser. Methodology: Extracted 80 human premolar teeth were collected and stored in distilled water. They are classified into four groups. All teeth were placed in acrylic block where long axis of the tooth should be perpendicular to the mold's bottom. Teeth were subjected to ×10 magnification after debonding. Results: There is no statistically significant difference was found between the shear bond strength of argon laser and conventional visible light for stainless steel and ceramic bracket. Ceramic brackets had significantly increased bond strength than stainless steel brackets. Conclusion: Argon laser can be used for bonding orthodontic brackets using a visible light-cure orthodontic adhesive system, and ceramic brackets had significantly increased bond strength than stainless steel.