Introduction: European-American norms are still used in the orthodontic treatment of Emirates patients despite the different ethnic backgrounds of the Emirates. The purpose of this study was to formulate cephalometric norms for lateral cephalometric measurements of Emirates adults and to study gender differences. Methods: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 176 Emirates adults, 91 males and 85 females, were selected according to the following criteria; an age range between 19 to 25 years, esthetically pleasing and harmonious faces with balanced and acceptable profiles and occlusions, normal skeletal and dental relationship, all permanent teeth present, and no history of orthodontic treatment or facial trauma. The mean values and standard deviations of 91 angular and 21 linear cephalometric variables were calculated using the Dolphin version 10.5 software package. The resulting norms for Emirates male and female groups were compared using a student t-test. Results: Several statistically significant gender differences were noticeable. Skeletally, Emirates males showed significantly greater (p < 0.001) total, anterior, and posterior cranial base lengths as well as longer facial heights, greater SGn-FH (˚), ANS Xi PM (˚), and FH/MP (˚) angles than females. In addition, Emirates males had significantly greater (p < 0.001) Co-A (mm), Co-Gn (mm), and significantly greater (p < 0.05) Pog-N vert (mm) than females. Dentally, Emirates males had significantly greater (p < 0.05) UI-SN (˚) and U1-NA (˚), U1-NA (mm), and L1-NB (mm) (p < 0.001) than females. For soft tissue measurements there were significant gender differences (p < 0.001) for all angular and linear measurements except for lower lip to E-plane and nose prominence measurements which have no significant gender difference. Emirates males revealed greater measurements than females except for soft tissue convexity, Z-angle, and both upper and lower lips protrusion which were significantly greater in Emirates females. Conclusions: The use of specific cephalometric standards for Emirates adults, separate for gender, seems to be justified. It is appropriate to put these cephalometric norms into daily orthodontic practice when Emirates adults are being treated.

This study aims to compare the hardness, sorption and solubility of commercially available tissue conditioner [TC] modified with chitosan [CS] and synthesized chitosan oligosaccharide [COS] in antifungal concentration. COS was synthesized by acid hydrolysis and characterized by FTIR and XRD. Experimental materials were formulated by incorporating each per gram of TC powder with effective antifungal concentration of chitosan 1.02 mg (Group 1: TC-CS) and 0.51 mg COS (Group 2: TC-COS). A commercially available TC was used as control (Group 0: CTC). Shore A hardness test was performed according to ASTM D 2240-05 (2010) standards on samples stored in dry environment, distilled water (DW) and artificial saliva (AS) at 37 °C (n = 5 per group). Percent weight changes (n = 5 per group) after storage in DW and AS was used to record sorption and solubility. One-way Anova with post hoc Tukey’s test was applied. FTIR and XRD confirmed low molecular weight and amorphous nature of COS. Experimental groups had higher Shore A hardness values; however, these changes were not significant. Greatest variations in durometer values (p ≤ 0.05) were observed during the first 24 h. Experimental groups had higher (p ≤ 0.05) percentage sorption and solubility. Samples stored in DW had significantly higher (p = 0.019) sorption, whereas material had higher (p = 0.005) solubility in AS. Mean solubility values in both immersion mediums was highest for Group 2, followed by group 1 and group 0. In addition, significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in solubility upon aging was noted for each material. Experimental tissue conditioner had higher hardness, sorption and solubility. However, these changes are not substantial to interfere with their tissue healing property. Therefore, these materials may be considered and explored further as potential antimicrobial drug delivery agent for denture stomatitis patients.

Vaccination is critical to control the rate of coronavirus transmission and infectivity. Dental practices are a high-risk area for contracting coronavirus; this fact generates psychological disturbances amongst patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the levels of anxiety of patients while visiting dental practices before and after getting vaccinated. This cross-sectional study was carried out between March and December 2021. An electronic survey was distributed among the vaccinated individuals who visited dental clinics before and after getting vaccinated. The survey consisted of the following four parts: demographic characteristics, questions related to coronavirus, and anxiety scores before and after getting vaccinated. SPSS-25 was used to perform the statistical analysis, where paired t-test was used to compare the anxiety scores, and Mann–Whitney U test to assess the association of gender with anxiety scores. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. A total of 400 vaccinated individuals participated in this study, with a response rate of 88.23%. The majority of the respondents (71.0%) did not test positive for coronavirus. More than half of the participants (54.0%) reported to not be suffering from any coronavirus-related symptoms. About 100 (25.0%) of the individuals stated that dental clinics are an environment in which there is a high risk of contracting coronavirus. In regards to the comparison of the mean MDAS scores of the participants before and after getting vaccinated, a significant difference (p = 0.001) was found. Vaccination has been recommended for all eligible individuals to control the transmission and infectivity of coronavirus. Vaccinations have decreased the dental anxiety of patients while visiting dental clinics. However, the protective measures are still valid and should be followed, regardless of the vaccination status.

Technology is rapidly evolving in the modern world, and the accompanying developments due to its influence are shaping each and every aspect of our life, with the field of orthodontics being no exception. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine such trends in orthodontics and hypothesize which ones would emerge and continue in the near future. After a thorough search of online journals using keywords such as “3D printing,” “Aligners,” “Artificial intelligence,” “Future trends,” “Orthodontics,” and “Teleorthodontics” across databases of PubMed-MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus, a total of 634 papers were initially recovered. Technological advancements in 3D printing, Computer-aided design and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), biopolymers and Teleorthodontics were the most important categories of development seen across the 17 studies that we selected for our review. All the investigations selected for this systematic review depicted aspects of orthodontics that were influenced by rapid technological changes and could potentially become mainstream in the coming times. However, caution was sought to be observed in the usage/adoption of some of these trends, with social media usage amongst both patients as well as orthodontists being a prime example of this.

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