Objectives:To determine the prevalence of dental caries in the primary and permanent teeth, and evaluate the brushing habits of school children in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).Methods:This study was conducted at Dammam, KSA. Oral examination of the participants was conducted from February to May 2014. The total sample size for this cross-sectional study was 711. There were 397 children between the age of 6-9 years, who were examined for primary teeth caries, and 314 between the age 10-12 years were examined for permanent teeth caries. Primary and permanent dentitions were studied for decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft [primary teeth], DMFT [permanent teeth]).Results:The overall prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth was almost 73% (n=711). Among the 6-9-year-old, the prevalence of caries was approximately 78% (n=397) whereas, among the 10-12-year-old children, it was approximately 68% (n=314). Mean dmft value among the 6-9-year-olds was 3.66±3.13 with decayed (d) component of 3.28±2.92, missing (m) component of 0.11±0.69, and filled (f) component of 0.26±0.9. Mean DMFT value among the 10-12-year-old children was 1.94±2.0 with decayed (D) component of 1.76±1.85, missing (M) component of 0.03±0.22, and filled (F) of component 0.15±0.73. Daily tooth brushing had a positive effect on caries prevention, and this effect was statistically significant for caries in primary teeth.Conclusion:Although the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth was not found to be as high as other researchers reported from different cities of KSA, still the prevalence was high considering the World Health Organization future oral health goals. Awareness should be provided to students, as well as, teachers and parents regarding the importance of good brushing habits and regular dental visits.

No abstract

No abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the whole world and has now been declared a Pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although the mortality rate of this virus is low, it is especially potent against people with underlying systemic conditions. Dentistry is a profession where the doctor, as well as the dental staff, works in close vicinity to the patient’s mouth. Dental education has two core components; didactic and clinical training (including patient care). Dental education has been interrupted in the past due to certain events (Arab Spring and SARS outbreak). Currently, the pandemic of COVID-19 has disrupted dental education globally as most of the dental schools and universities in the world have closed amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Teledentistry is a subspecialty of telemedicine that helps in the provision of educational activities, advice, and diagnosis about treatment over a distance with the help of technology like video conferencing. The current overview summarizes the potential role of teledentistry in continuing the dental educational process in terms of delivery of didactic components, clinical training, and patient care. It can be concluded that with modern updated devices and tools, teledentistry can be an effective way to prevent disruption of dental education and it can be utilized in continuing the dental educational process in this critical time of the COVID-19 outbreak. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.3125 How to cite this:Farooq I, Ali S, Moheet IA, AlHumaid J. COVID-19 outbreak, disruption of dental education, and the role of teledentistry. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.3125 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

No abstract

No abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a brief insight regarding the recent studies and their recommendations related to the modifications to glass ionomer cement (GIC) powder in order to improve their properties. An electronic search of publications was made from the year 2000 to 2018. The databases included in the current study were EBSCOhost, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. The inclusion criteria for the current study include publication with abstract or full-text articles, original research, reviews or systematic reviews, in vitro, and in vivo studies that were written in English language. Among these only articles published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Articles published in other languages, with no available abstract and related to other nondentistry fields, were excluded. A detailed review of the recent materials used as a filler phase in GIC powder has revealed that not all modifications produce beneficial results. Recent work has demonstrated that modification of GIC powder with nano-particles has many beneficial effects on the properties of the material. This is due to the increase in surface area and surface energy, along with better particle distribution of the nano-particle. Therefore, more focus should be given on nano-particle having greater chemical affinity for GIC matrix as well as the tooth structure that will enhance the physicochemical properties of GIC.

Dental health awareness programs should be implemented and information about positive oral health attitudes should be provided to the students at an initial stage of dental training.