Background In many developing countries, the prevalence of dental caries has increased due to lifestyle changes, lack of preventive services, and inadequate access to dental care. In Arab countries, the increased prevalence of caries has correlated with economic growth over the past decades, resulting in greater access to unhealthy foods and higher consumption of sugar, particularly among children. However, few studies have assessed caries prevalence among pediatric populations in Arab countries. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries and factors associated with caries among children in Tripoli, Libya. Methods This cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of 1934 children in first grade (age 6–7 years, n = 1000) and seventh grade (age 11–12 years, n = 934). Four health centers in Tripoli were selected for screening based on location and participation in school-entry health examinations. Data were collected through self-administered parent surveys and visual dental screenings by trained examiners from September 24 to October 15, 2019. The survey comprised questions about socioeconomic characteristics and oral health behaviors, including toothbrushing, sugar consumption, and dental care history. During screenings, untreated decay, missing teeth, and filled teeth (DMFT or dmft) were recorded. Prevalence of tooth decay was calculated as the proportion of children with high DMFT/dmft scores. Binary logistic and negative binomial regression analyses (with significance at p ≤ 0.05) were used to assess factors associated with caries. Results Among 1000 first-grade children, 78.0% had decay in their primary teeth, with a mean dmft of 3.7. Among 934 seventh-grade children, 48.2% had caries in their permanent teeth, with a mean DMFT of 1.7. The most significant factors associated with caries prevalence were socioeconomic, such as screening site (first grade, p = 0.02; seventh grade, p < 0.001) and maternal employment (seventh grade, p = 0.02), and behavioral, such as toothbrushing duration (seventh grade, p = 0.01), past dental treatment (both grades, p < 0.001), and past emergency visit (both grades, p < 0.001). Conclusions Caries prevalence was associated with several behavioral and socioeconomic factors, including screening site, maternal employment, toothbrushing duration, past dental treatment, and past emergency visit. Efforts should be made to address these factors to minimize barriers and improve oral health behavior and care utilization. These findings can be used to evaluate current public health initiatives and inform future planning.

Purpose/objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has presented mental health challenges among healthcare professionals, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Few studies have examined PTSD predictors in dental settings. This cross‐sectional study aimed to describe the relationship between personality traits and PTSD symptoms among US dental residents engaged in patient care during the pandemic. Methods An online survey was administered to residents in advanced education in general dentistry, dental anesthesia, general practice residency, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and pediatric dentistry programs between September 2020 and April 2021. The survey included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Big Five Inventory, and the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition . Logistic regression models, analysis of variance, and Tukey tests were used to examine the association between variables and PTSD scores and assess differences in personality traits and PTSD by specialty. Results Among 149 respondents (mean age = 29.9 ± 4.9 years; 57.0% female), 53.7% reported experiencing stress during the pandemic. Many residents (38.9%) were not aware of available mental health resources. A total of 17.4% of residents met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, but only 1.3% reported a previous PTSD diagnosis. The most significant predictors of PTSD were neuroticism (odds ratio = 2.90, p = 0.046) and stress unrelated to the resident's program role during the pandemic (odds ratio = 5.88, p = 0.02). Conclusions PTSD symptoms were highly prevalent among dental residents, with stress and neuroticism being the most significant predictors.

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Purpose/objectives: Online review sites have become popular platforms for health care consumers to rate their experiences. An analysis of online reviews can help dental school clinics learn from patient feedback that is not accessible through formal patient surveys. This study's objectives were to characterize patient-generated reviews posted on the Yelp and Google review sites and assess any associations between dental schools' ratings and their respective characteristics. Methods:This cross-sectional study analyzed patient-generated Yelp and Google reviews regarding their experiences at 65 dental school clinics between June and August 2019. Quantitative analysis of selected dental school characteristics and patient ratings was performed using analysis of variance, with effect size measured by the omega-squared (ω 2 ) statistic. Statistical significance was set at p = 0.05. Qualitative analysis of review content was conducted using NVivo software.Results: Among 65 dental schools in the Unite States, 63 schools (96.9%) had reviews available on Google, and 55 schools (84.6%) had reviews available on Yelp. A total of 4702 patient reviews were included in the analysis (2516 [53.5%] from Google [mean rating = 3.6 ± 0.6 stars] and 2186 [46.5%] from Yelp [mean rating = 3.1 ± 0.9 stars). A school location in the South/Midwest was significantly associated with a higher Yelp rating compared with a school location in the Northeast/West (ω 2 = 0.140, 95% confidence interval = 0.002-0.310, p = 0.003). Qualitative analysis found that review content was predominantly negative; while subthemes in care delivery generated positive responses to care quality, those regarding the pre-care and post-care categories garnered negative responses. This finding was particularly true for comments addressing staff helpfulness, billing and payment, and clinic functioning.Conclusions: This study's findings indicated that dental programs' online reviews were predominantly negative and covered categories that were not addressed in existing satisfaction surveys.