Psychological Distress among Undergraduate Dental Students in Saudi Arabia and Its Coping Strategies-A Systematic Review

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the studies that have reported on psychological issues among dental students in Saudi Arabia and to develop coping strategies to overcome these mental health-related issues. The present systematic review is in accordance with the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search for the articles was carried out in the electronic databases by four independent researchers. The data search was performed in the electronic search engines like PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, Embase, Cochrane and Saudi Digital Library for scientific research articles published from January 2000 until December 2020. STROBE guidelines were adopted for qualitative analysis of six articles which met the eligibility criteria. The analysis of the literature revealed that most of the studies included were conducted in the past 8 years in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Findings of this systematic review clearly state that dental students in Saudi Arabia experience higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety and stress during their education period, with a higher stress for female students compared to male students. There is an urgent need to introduce interventional programs and preventive strategies to overcome the long-term effects.

Age-related Oral Changes and Their Impact on Oral Health-related Quality of Life among Frail Elderly Population: A Review

BACKGROUND

In the present-day world, the aging elderly across the world are living longer. Most people are expected to live well into their sixties and even beyond. The increasing life expectancy of the aging population could be due to increased availability of healthcare facilities and improved quality care provided by them. Alongside increasing life expectancy, the individual's quality of life and also his/her oral health-related quality of life (OHR-QoL) are expected to improve so that they can enjoy their aging life.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review article is to highlight aging-related oral health changes and their impact on the individual's quality of life.

REVIEW RESULTS

Age-related oral changes are seen in the tooth structure making the enamel more brittle resulting in severe attrition. Autoimmune diseases like Sjogren's syndrome are followed by decrease in the salivary gland function and the reason is unknown, and medications like antihypertensive and analgesics are associated with the decrease in salivary flow, which increases the patient's risk of developing dental caries, and also make the oral tissues more prone to mucosal infections. Edentulism has also been directly related to masticatory problems and nutritional problems. The studies reported on OHR-QoL of these frail elderly populations have shown lower scores.

CONCLUSION

It is important for health professionals, especially those dealing with these frail elderly populations, to have a better understanding of their dental needs and also understand the physiologic changes undergone by them. The health professionals should understand and comprehend the oral health challenges these vulnerable people face.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Healthcare providers should conduct periodic oral examinations along with general examination and should avoid prescribing medications that have xerostomia as a side effect. The elderly individuals should be encouraged to keep their mouth moist using water or artificial saliva and maintain good oral and denture hygiene.

Exposure Risks and Preventive Strategies Considered in Dental Care Settings to Combat Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

In recent times, numerous scientific articles have been published on the risks of exposure to infectious microorganisms in dental care settings. The main mode of transmission of such infectious organisms is primarily through bioaerosols generated during routine dental procedures which put both dental care providers and their patients at an increased risk of exposure. Other frequent modes of infection transmission often reported include cross contamination and inadequate adoption of infection control protocols. The main objective of this article is to highlight the findings of those studies that have reported on the routes and modes of transmission of infectious organisms in dental settings, to report possibilities of cross contamination in dental care settings, and also to report any breach in adherence to infection control protocols in dental care settings. We also intend to emphasize on standard infection control protocols and strategies that need to be considered in dental care settings during disease outbreaks like coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Developments, application, and performance of artificial intelligence in dentistry - A systematic review

Background/purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made deep inroads into dentistry in the last few years. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the development of AI applications that are widely employed in dentistry and evaluate their performance in terms of diagnosis, clinical decision-making, and predicting the prognosis of the treatment.

Materials and methods

The literature for this paper was identified and selected by performing a thorough search in the electronic data bases like PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane, Google scholar, Scopus, Web of science, and Saudi digital library published over the past two decades (January 2000–March 15, 2020).After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 43 articles were read in full and critically analyzed. Quality analysis was performed using QUADAS-2.

Results

AI technologies are widely implemented in a wide range of dentistry specialties. Most of the documented work is focused on AI models that rely on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs). These AI models have been used in detection and diagnosis of dental caries, vertical root fractures, apical lesions, salivary gland diseases, maxillary sinusitis, maxillofacial cysts, cervical lymph nodes metastasis, osteoporosis, cancerous lesions, alveolar bone loss, predicting orthodontic extractions, need for orthodontic treatments, cephalometric analysis, age and gender determination.

Conclusion

These studies indicate that the performance of an AI based automated system is excellent. They mimic the precision and accuracy of trained specialists, in some studies it was found that these systems were even able to outmatch dental specialists in terms of performance and accuracy.

Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Distress among Healthcare Providers during the Outbreak of the Life-threatening Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

"The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affect our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually."-Greg Anderson.

Primordial-level Preventive Measures for Dental Care Providers against Life-threatening Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)

The outbreak of this corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan city in China and now it has become a global issue. The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 recorded globally has surpassed 100,000. The mode of transmission of COVID-19 is usually from person to person and it could also be through direct transmission such as cough, sneeze, and inhalation of droplets. Dental care providers are at higher risk since they are more prone to cross contamination with the patient's saliva and aerosols that are released during the dental procedures. They can also be transmitted through other routes such as direct contact with blood, oral fluids, and from contaminated instruments. This paper intends to provide primordial-level preventive measures for dental care providers against this life-threatening COVID-19.

Assessing the current state of dental informatics in saudi arabia: the new frontier

Dental informatics is an emerging field that has the potential to transform the dental profession. This study aims to summarize the current applications of dental informatics in Saudi Arabia and to identify the challenges facing expansion of dental informatics in the Saudi context. Search for published articles and specialized forum entries was conducted, as well as interviews with dental professionals familiar with the topic. Results indicated that digital radiography/analysis and administrative management of dental practice are the commonest applications used. Applications in Saudi dental education included: web-based learning systems, computer-based assessments and virtual technology for clinical skills' teaching. Patients' education software, electronic dental/oral health records and the potential of dental research output from electronic databases are yet to be achieved in Saudi Arabia. Challenges facing Saudi dental informatics include: lack of IT infrastructure/support, social acceptability and financial cost. Several initiatives are taken towards the research in dental informatics. Still, more investments are needed to fully achieve the potential of various application of informatics in dental education, practice and research.

Shear bond strength of "one bottle" dentin adhesives

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Several 1-bottle dentin adhesive resins have been introduced to the market; however, their shear bond strength still requires further investigation.

PURPOSE

This study was designed to evaluate the shear bond strength of five 1-bottle fifth generation dentin adhesive resin materials.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Bond 1, Single Bond, One-Step, Prime & Bond 2.1, and Tenure Quick with fluoride were evaluated. Tenure All-Surface Bonding System, a fourth generation dentin adhesive resin, was used as the control group. Twelve specimens were prepared from each material, and the shear bond strength was measured by using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Fracture patterns were studied with the use of light and SEM. The results were analyzed with the use of ANOVA.

RESULTS

The mean shear bond strength for each resin was as follows: Bond 1: 18.36 +/- 3.19 MPa; Single Bond: 16.22 +/- 2.11 MPa; One-Step: 22.51 +/- 3.69 MPa; Prime & Bond: 16. 64 +/- 3.66 MPa; Tenure Quick: 16.43 +/- 3.2 MPa; and Tenure All-Surface Bonding System: 15.06 +/- 3.5 MPa. The shear bond strength values of One-Step dentin adhesive resin showed significant differences compared with the other 5 groups (P<.001). No significant differences were seen between the control group and the other four 1-bottle dentin adhesive resins (0.25 > P>.1). Eighty percent or more of the specimens for each adhesive failed at the dentin/adhesive interface. An exception was Tenure All-Surface Bonding System in which all specimens failed at the dentin/adhesive interface.

CONCLUSION

The 1-bottle systems tested bond to dentin with a strength similar to that of the control group. In addition, the shear bond strengths of 4 of the 1-bottle systems tested were not significantly different.