Dental appearance may play a key role on the way we develop a first impression of another person. To test whether relatively minor changes in the lightness of tooth colour would influence the perceived social appeal (social, intellectual, psychological and relational abilities) of an unknown male and unknown female, this cross-sectional study was performed on 555 Spanish adults. The two major independent variables related to the photograph were tooth lightness (computer-derived), divided into three levels that included lightened teeth, natural teeth and darkened teeth, and the gender of the observed face. Moreover, six independent variables related to the observer were assessed (age, gender, educational level, place of residence, frequency of brushing and self-reported health status). The dependent variables were scored on five-point Likert scales designed to quantify four domains (social, intellectual, psychological and relationship competences) of the Social Appeal Scale (SAS). Tooth lightness influences the perception of social appeal in all dimensions, as darkened smiles received significantly poorer scores than natural-colour smiles, but these were also worse than lightened smiles. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the major predictor of social appeal was tooth lightness, and for each increment in lightness (from darkened to lightened smiles), the odds ratio (OR) of positive values being perceived increased significantly in all items (from 2·3 in Popularity to 6·9 in Happiness). A perceptible change in dental lightness is the strongest factor associated with the dental attractiveness stereotype, affecting significantly the 12 traits assessed, but mainly the Happiness, Social Relations and Academic Performance.

The aim of this study was to compare the perceived competence for treating prosthodontic patients of two samples of fourth-year dental students: those educated using traditional methodologies and those educated using problem-based learning (PBL). Two cohorts of fourth-year dental students at a dental school in Spain were surveyed: the traditional methods cohort (n=46) was comprised of all students in academic years 2012 and 2013, and the PBL cohort (n=57) was comprised of all students in academic years 2014 and 2015. Students in both cohorts reported the number of prosthodontic treatments they carried out per year and their perceived level of competence in performing such treatments. The results showed that the average number of treatments performed was similar for the two cohorts, except the number of metal-based removable partial dentures was significantly higher for students in the traditional (0.8±1.0) than the PBL (0.4±0.6) cohort. The level of perceived competence to treat complete denture patients for the combined cohorts was significantly higher (7.3±1.1) than that for partial acrylic dentures (6.7±1.5) and combined dentures (5.7±1.3). Students' clinical competence in prosthodontics mainly depended on number of treatments performed as the operator as well as the assistant. Students in the traditional methods cohort considered themselves to be significantly more competent at treating patients for removable partial and fixed prostheses (7.8±1.1 and 7.6±1.1, respectively) than did students in the PBL cohort (6.4±1.5 and 6.6±1.5, respectively). Overall, however, the study found that practical experiences were more important than the teaching method used to achieve students' perceived competence.

: In restoration dentistry clinicians need to control the effect of the ceramic thickness and cement shade to achieve successful colorimetric results when allceramic veneers are bonded. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effects of cement color and the thickness of the final shade on porcelain discs. The study sample comprised 120 e.max Press HT A-2 ceramic discs of two thicknesses (60 of 1 mm thick and 60 of 0.5 mm thick). Three different lightnesses of Variolink Veneer cement were used (23, 0, and 13) for the cementation process. An Easyshade spectrophotometer was used to measure color coordinates (L*, C*, h, a*, and b*) on the discs both before and after cementation. To a large extent, color changes (DE Ã ab ) after the cementation process were found to depend on cement thickness, ceramic thickness, and cement lightness. This model predicted 52% of the observed variability. The most marked change in color appeared on discs 0.5 mm thick and a cement lightness of 23 (DE Ã ab 5 12.0 units). By contrast, color was more stable (minor changes) on discs with a cement lightness of 13 (DE Ã ab 5 2.3 units). All color coordinates were significantly modified after bonding, both on thin and thick discs and in all three cement color groups (23, 0, and 13). However the difference in color (DE

ResumenDurante mucho tiempo, a los profesores universitarios no se les ha exigido ninguna titulación específica ni capacitación certificada en docencia para acceder a la enseñanza superior. Así, la formación docente del profesor universitario suele ser, en la mayoría de los casos, un proceso autodirigido que no cuenta con caminos reglados para afrontar la continua y necesaria actualización ante los cambios tecnológicos, metodológicos y estructurales de la educación superior en los últimos años. Sin embargo, muchos profesores buscan formarse y mejorar AbstractFor a long time, no specific qualification or certified training in teaching have been not demanded to professors to access higher education. Thus, the professor teaching training tends to be, in the majority of cases, a self-directed process that does not have regulated path to deal with the continuous and necessary update to face technological, methodological and structural changes of higher education in recent years. However, many teachers are looking for training and improving their teaching skills through a dispersed and broad offer of courses and activities. Since