Structural Racism, Place, and COVID-19: A Narrative Review Describing How We Prepare for an Endemic COVID-19 Future

Background:

Place is a social determinant of health, as recently evidenced by COVID-19. Previous literature surrounding health disparities in the United States often fails to acknowledge the role of structural racism on place-based health disparities for historically marginalized communities (i.e., Black and African American communities, Hispanic/Latinx communities, Indigenous communities [i.e., First Nations, Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian], and Pacific Islanders). This narrative review summarizes the intersection between structural racism and place as contributors to COVID-19 health disparities.

Methods:

This narrative review accounts for the unique place-based health care experiences influenced by structural racism, including health systems and services and physical environment. We searched online databases for peer-reviewed and governmental sources, published in English between 2000 and 2021, related to place-based U.S. health inequities in historically marginalized communities. We then narrate the link between the historical trajectory of structural racism and current COVID-19 health outcomes for historically marginalized communities.

Results:

Structural racism has infrequently been named as a contributor to place as a social determinant of health. This narrative review details how place is intricately intertwined with the results of structural racism, focusing on one's access to health systems and services and physical environment, including the outdoor air and drinking water. The role of place, health disparities, and structural racism has been starkly displayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, where historically marginalized communities have been subject to greater rates of COVID-19 incidence and mortality.

Conclusion:

As COVID-19 becomes endemic, it is crucial to understand how place-based inequities and structural racism contributed to the COVID-19 racial disparities in incidence and mortality. Addressing structurally racist place-based health inequities through anti-racist policy strategies is one way to move the United States toward achieving health equity.

Staged surgical management of the sequelae of neonatal septic hip arthritis: a case report and review of the literature

Total necrosis of the femoral head is a common sequelae after septic hip arthritis in infancy. Septic hip dislocation may develop, with severe functional consequences on the growing child: limping and limb length discrepancy. We present our staged surgical treatment of Choi's type IV A sequelae of septic hip arthritis in a 2-year old boy. Open reduction, followed by various reconstructive procedures, were performed. After 8 years of follow-up, the child has a stable, mobile hip, with good functional outcomes. Close follow-up is mandatory to ensure a good long-term outcome. Our technique proved to be successful in the achievement of a functional hip by maintaining the remnants of the femoral head and creating the conditions to remodel them quasi-normal.

Considerations on the epidemiology, etiology and profile of periodontal--dental injuries in preschool population in Iasi county

In recent years there has been a considerable increase in the number of temporary teeth injuries, this variability being determined by multiple etiologic factors, which we need to be aware of, as well as by predisposing conditions.

AIM

To characterize the epidemiology, etiology and pathology of specific types of periodontal-dental trauma in a series of preschool children from Iasi County.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included a total of 672 subjects aged 3 to 7 years old, from both urban and rural areas of Iasi County. Statistical analysis was performed using STATISTICA software used in medical research.

RESULTS

Prevalence of periodontal-dental trauma in the study group was 19.64%. Gender distribution in the study group showed a preponderance of males (62.12%). The risk of periodontal-dental trauma in deciduous teeth was 1.63 times higher in boys compared to girls. Fall accidents (41.67%) closely followed by playground accidents (31.82%) were the most common causes of periodontal-dental trauma in the study group.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of temporary dental trauma in the study group was relatively high, requiring the implementation of oral health promotion strategies and prevention programs, primarily addressed to parents and educators.

Value of scots index in a school community from Iaşi

The SCOTS version of the Developmental Defects of Enamel Index was designed for use in field settings as an add-on to caries prevalence examinations in order to monitor prevalence of enamel defects.

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of developmental dental anomalies (DDE) using the SCOTS index and to statistically analyze the distribution of these anomalies.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included 240 children aged 7-10 years old, from lasi, Romania. DDE have been evaluated using SCOTS index.

RESULTS

DDE prevalence was 9.2% with the highest rate represented by diffuse opacities (SCOTS score 2), followed by demarcated opacities and hypoplasia (SCOTS scores 1 and 3). Most affected were the male children. 61.9% of all affected teeth had an extension defect of less than 1/3 of the tooth surface and 66.7% of lesions were asymmetrical. There was not a statistically significant correlation between the SCOTS score value and children age or sex. Socioeconomic status can be a potential risk factor for DDE.

CONCLUSIONS

DDE prevalence was quite low compared with other studies. SCOTS index is suitable for epidemiological screenings and highlights the public health significance of DDE.

[Epidemiological aspects of frontal edentation of child and adolescent]

Increasingly frequency of frontal edentation of children and adolescents, mainly because of dental caries and its complications and other diseases requires closer analysis and a reconsideration of therapeutic attitudes that must be carefully adapted and refined.

AIM

To study the establishment of prevalence and incidence of child and adolescent frontal edentation, identifying its etiology and prospects of restoration of morpho-functional parameters affected, anchored in temporary or permanent solutions, according to age and morpho-functional development of the patient.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied a group composed of 450 patients, aged between 8 and 19 years of age, diagnosed with frontal edentation of different etiologies.

RESULTS

The two most common causes which are involved in producing edentation are odontal injuries and chronic periodontal disease.

CONCLUSION

Etiology of frontal edentation has an esential part in the anatomoclinical shape of edentation, without evading the impact on bio-psycho-social dimension of this clinical entity. The size of the edentation, the emotional impact for the child, and the medical aspects are very important in the decision of the right treatment for longtime.

[Correlation between the lower first permanent molar axis and the premature loss of temporary molars]

The aim of our study was to determine the impact of premature loss of temporary molars upon the longitudinal axis of the first permanent molar.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The study sample was formed by 94 orthopanthomografies of child patients with premature loss of lower temporary molars (first or second) after clinical eruption of the first permanent molar. All panoramic radiographs have been realized with the same panoramic unit with 1.4% magnification coefficient and were analyzed using a standardized technique of tracing the images of teeth and bone on matte acetate paper. It was evaluated the angle between longitudinal axis of first permanent lower molar and occlusal plane.

RESULTS

It was observed that premature loss of lower second deciduous molar modifies greater the vertical axis of first permanent molar (between 61 degrees and 79 degrees) then premature loss of first lower primary molar. This is perhaps because the loss of space in the case of premature exfoliation of first primary molar is due more to distal drift of canine then mesial drift of molars.

CONCLUSION

The drift to mesial of first permanent molar is more accentuated proportional with the age at which appeared premature loss and so it is loss of leeway space.

New results concerning the plum pox virus epidemiology and resistance of plum cultivars, hybrids and rootstocks

Our recent results on the plum pox virus (PPV) epidemiology show that PPV spreads very rapidly in plum tree plantations in the contaminated areas. A clearing of the PPV-infected trees reduces significantly the spread of the virus but does not eliminate the disease. Some plum tree cultivars, hybrids and rootstocks (Scoldus, Alina, Cristi, BN 1/8Fl, BN 2Gr. etc) showing field resistance could not be infected with PPV by natural way. However, they could be infected with PPV by artificial inoculation except for the plum tree cv. Local of Dragasani and the BN 4Kr myrobalan, which proved to be immune to PPV. PPV was not transmitted through seeds in plum tree and myrobalan in the nursery. The Hyalopterus pruni aphids were found PPV-positive by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

[Clinical variability in partial and extensive anodontia]

In a longitudinal study, 48 patients aged between 4.6 and 30.5 years with various degrees of partially extended anodontia were investigated clinically and paraclinically for 4 years. The changes in occlusal function in the context of clinical variability of partially extended anodontia will also induce, finally, a change in the fundamental craniomandibular relation.

[Dento-periodontal interferences in extended partial anodontia]

In this paper, part of a mixed longitudinal study on the growth and development phenomena in extended partial anodontia, the author, based on the data of the thorough clinical and paraclinical investigations carried out, underlines the implications of this isolated dental anomaly on temporary or impacted permanent teeth as well as on their periodontal support. Thus, 48 patients aged between 4.6 and 30.5 years with various clinical forms of extended partial anodontia were investigated. It resulted that the severity of the dental-periodontal involvement is strongly correlated with the etiopathogenic and clinical features and severity of the anomaly under study.