Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the global population to a high risk of infection that constitutes a major stress factor, especially for vulnerable groups such as dental students. Objective: To assess levels of COVID-19 related stress and anxiety, changes in hygienic and social habits, as well as subjective worries regarding the dental profession among dental students. Methods: A self-structured questionnaire was sent to students at the College of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University. It included demographic data, questions about the level of change in personal hygiene and social habits, students’ perception about the sufficiency of information received during the outbreak and its source, subjective worries regarding the dental profession, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. Two hundred fifty-eight responses were received. Results: Moderate and severe anxiety were reported in 17% and 4% of students, respectively, with non-significant associations between anxiety and gender or level of study. A high percentage of students (46.5% to 62.4%) reported great change in most hygienic and social habits with a highly significant association between change in buying more sanitizers and anxiety levels. Forty-six percent agreed that their job performance was not at its best, and 31% reported a possible intention to change profession, with the latter reported more by male students (63.8%). Conclusion: A considerable percentage of dental students in our college are anxious and changed their hygienic and social habits due to COVID-19. This anxiety reflects worries about the dental profession in one-third of participants that necessitate counselling services and psychological support.

Objectives The aim of the study was to share our experience of the development and application of a modified infection control protocol at the Dental Teaching Hospital, Umm Al-Qura University (UQUDENT) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A second aim was to evaluate the impact of the implemented strategies on preparations for future requirements in clinical dental education. Materials and Methods In this descriptive study, we evaluated the challenges facing dental practice and categorized them into four domains: challenges facing dental practice during the pandemic, the risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection, the design of student clinics, and the financial challenges. The impact of strategies established to deal with such challenges was studied by comparing the number of treated patients from September 1, 2020, to March 01, 2021, with the number treated during the same months pre-COVID-19. The COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed students and health care workers (HCWs) were expressed in numbers and percentages in each category of the study group. Results Policies were set up to deal with the challenges in each domain, after training all the hospital personnel in mitigation of the spread of infection within the hospital. We left a non-working clinic between every two operating clinics, and the patient risk was assessed by triage scoring and health status checks by a Saudi mobile application at the entrance. The hospital delivered more personal protective equipment and obligated all students and HCWs to wear KN95 or N95 masks during procedures. Over 1,500 patients were treated during the study period with more than a 30% reduction in comparison to those in the pre-COVID-19 period, but only 20 UQUDENT personnel had confirmed COVID-19 infection, and all proved to be community-acquired by contact tracing. Conclusion The measures implemented in this study proved effective. With the challenges and limited resources, UQUDENT managed to resume the operation of its dental clinics and training while preventing cross-infection, and it ensured that dental students graduated with the required competency. Sharing experiences between educational institutes will help to graduate safe competent practitioners.

Objectives This study aimed to assess hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) persistence among dental students two decades after infant vaccination and immune response after revaccination or booster dose in nonimmune groups. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was performed using laboratory reports for anti-HBs performed to dental students at the Umm al-Qura University from 2016 to 2020. Reports were classified according to baseline antibody titer into group I (titer <10 mIU/mL), group II (titer 10 to <100 mIU/mL), and group III (titer ≥100 mIU/mL). The basal antibody titer of each group was correlated to student's gender and birth year and compared with postrevaccination or booster dose titer in groups I and II. Statistical Analysis Data of baseline and postrevaccination anti-HBs antibody titers were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). One-way ANOVA was used to compare between different means for antibody titers of students as well as baseline and postrevaccination antibody levels for nonimmune students with nonprotective antibody titers. Pairwise multiple comparison of the difference between baseline and postrevaccination anti-HBs antibody titers were done by post hoc Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test. Chi-squared test was used for comparing between the frequencies. A p-Value of ≤0.05 was considered significant and p < 0.01 was considered highly significant. Results A significant percentage (73.6%) of students had antibody titer <10 mIU/mL, while only 4.8% had antibody titer ≥100 mIU/mL with nonsignificant difference between both genders (χ 2 =3.784, p = 0.151). A statistically nonsignificant difference was also found between the three categories of anti-HBs antibody titers among students with different birth dates (χ 2 = 13.817, p = 0.182). After revaccination of nonimmune students, 100% of them showed strongly protective antibody titers with mean of 842.88 to 844.58 mIU/mL. A highly significant difference was observed between the mean baseline and postrevaccination antibody titers in both genders, with a higher mean of post revaccination (p = 0.000). Conclusion Two decades after infant immunization, a significant percentage of dental students failed to maintain the anti-HBs seroprotective titer. So titer measurement should be made compulsory before they begin their clinical training and revaccination or booster dose should be given to nonimmune students to maintain a high protection level.

Background: Molar-Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) is a developmental defect affecting teeth. The prevalence of MIH and its clinical implications form a challenge for patients and dentists. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of MIH among female school children in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 7- to 9-year-old school girls from the public and private sectors. Invitations to participate in the study were sent to the parents of 1,000 randomly selected children, along with questionnaire and consent form. All included children were examined by two dentists who had been previously calibrated in the assessment of MIH (K=0.9), which was diagnosed according to the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry 2003 criteria. Data analysis was done using SPSS V.22.0 and various statistical tests were conducted to determine significant differences at P<0.05. Results: A total of 711 children participated in this study, with a response rate of 82.2%. The prevalence rates of MIH and Molar Hypomineralization (MH) were 20.96% and 26.58%, respectively. The most common form of MIH was the mild form (87.24%), while 18 children (12.08%) were diagnosed with the moderate form. A single child (0.67%) was diagnosed with the severe form. No statistically significant associations were found between MIH/MH and prenatal, perinatal or postnatal factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of MIH in school girls in Makkah was 20.96%. Despite its high prevalence, the severity of MIH was relatively mild. The etiology of MIH remains unclear and warrants further investigation in future studies.