As antiviral vaccines are still pending for the COVID-19 disease, improving dentists’ knowledge and prevention measures is important. This study aimed to assess dentists’ knowledge, attitude, and perception of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia during the early outbreak period. In addition, infection control measures for dental setting were also assessed. Online questionnaire was distributed to dentists in different regions of Saudi Arabia when COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia was at its beginning. The questionnaire was assessing demographic variables, knowledge, attitude, risk perception, and preparedness towards COVID-19. Questions regarding infection control measures were also included. The correct incubation period of the virus was recognized by 43% of participants. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath were the mostly recognized symptoms for COVID-19 (98.9%, 95.5%, and 93.3% respectively). Participants in age groups ≥60, 50–59, and 20–29 years old were more likely to perceive COVID-19 as a very dangerous disease compared to 30–39 and 40–49 age groups. Dentists in Saudi Arabia showed satisfactory knowledge and positive attitude towards COVID-19. Improving dentists’ level of knowledge could be achieved through increasing their accessibility to materials provided by dental health care authorities, which specifies the best and safest approaches for dealing with patients during and after the outbreak.

IntroductionProsthodontics is a challenging subject for dental students. This study explores the incidence of exam anxiety among prosthodontics students and the variables that moderate it.MethodsA cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to fourth-year undergraduate students immediately before examinations, with a 77% response rate (55.7% female, 44.3% male).ResultsA lack of time to prepare before exams and an inability to recall before exams were the main factors affected by gender. In addition, 63.5% of male students agreed that social media and mobile phones are distractions, while 81.8% of female students disagreed (P<0.001). Within the removable prosthodontic courses (preclinical or clinical), 61.0% of students agreed that a lack of time to prepare before exams is an issue with the clinical course, while 58.5% of the students moderately agreed it is an issue with the preclinical course (P=0.044). A lack of time to prepare, fear of failure, and the time of the examination were of greater concern with regard to quizzes than with mid-term examinations.ConclusionThis study highlights the presence of exam anxiety among prosthodontics students, as well as how that anxiety is influenced by gender, clinical courses, and the type of exam. This study suggests that students should be taught strategies to improve their study, life and time-management skills in order to overcome exam anxiety. This study additionally suggests that improving success rates in dental school requires placing an increased focus in the curriculum on test competency and examination patterns.

One of the most widely used esthetic restorations in dentistry is composite. The widespread application of composites can be related to advancements in biomaterials. However, due to various factors, composites are commonly associated with dental sensitivity. Hence, the present study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of three desensitizing agents in reducing post-treatment sensitivity for Class I composite restoration. Eighty subjects with Class I cavities were selected according to the inclusion criteria, and a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was carried out. Twenty patients were randomly assigned to four groups: Group C (Control group), Group GL (Gluma group), Group SF (Shield Force Plus group), and Group TC (Telio CS group). The desensitizers were applied after Class 1 cavity preparation and acid etching in all the groups, except the Control group, and thereafter, composite restoration was completed in a conventional manner. Questionnaires were provided to all the participants to record the post-operative pain/sensitivity level according to the visual analogue scale (VAS) on intake of cold drinks, intake of hot drinks, and intake of sugar for different periods of time. Significant variation was observed between the three desensitizers for all three stimuli. However, no significant variations were seen with the various age groups and between the maxillary and the mandibular teeth at the different time periods. Group GL performed better than Group SF and Group TC. It can be proposed that the application of the desensitizers reduced the post-restorative sensitivity in the composite restorations and improved acceptance.

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Objectives:The goal was to propose a new simulation model as a training tool in complete denture (CD) flange adjustment and to evaluate if the model can improve student competencies in different learning domains. Methods: Fourth-year undergraduate dental students (n = 100) were equally divided into control and test groups. Both groups received didactic instructions for CD post-insertion procedures, but the test group had additional simulation training using modified working casts. Both groups then performed CD flange adjustment on real patients, and their skills were evaluated using a specific checklist. The data were assessed by independent samples t-test and a chi-square test at α = 0.05. Results:The students in the test group showed significantly better overall performance (57.94%) compared with the control group (30.14%) in clinical post-insertion CD flange adjustment procedures (p < 0.001). However, the psychomotor skills of the male students in the test group were not significantly influenced (p = 0.268). Considering the competencies for different tasks, more students that were competent were present in the test group compared to those in the control group regarding most of the knowledge (p ≤ 0.012) and all of the cognitive skill tasks (p ≤ 0.021). More students were competent for half of the psychomotor skill tasks (p ≤ 0.027). However, when considering gender, the number of competent male students was significantly greater in the test group only for one of the psychomotor tasks. Conclusion:The simulation model significantly improved the overall clinical skills of the students, allowing them to learn the common CD post-insertion maintenance procedures before performing the procedure clinically.