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Objective To determine the relationship and prevalence of taste and smell dysfunction in patients with COVID-19 in the UAE population. Methods Enrolled participants were interviewed online via a phone call after obtaining their informed consent. Quantification of smell, taste, and other sensations before, during, and after COVID-19 infection was correlated with the severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Results A total of 500 (mild – severe) COVID-19 patients completed the survey. A total of 26.4% were asymptomatic, and 21.4% were classified as paucisymptomatic with less severe symptoms. Almost equal proportions of the studied population experienced extreme taste sensation reductions (43%) and loss of smell sensation (44%). Statistically significant drastic decreases in smell and taste senses were seen among younger ages. The magnitude of reduction in both sense changes increased steeply from the asymptomatic group to the paucisymptomatic group to the symptomatic group . Conclusion Sudden anosmia or ageusia needs to be recognized for early detection of COVID-19 infection to identify otherwise hidden carriers, thus favoring an early isolation strategy that will restrict the spread of the disease.

Aim:This in vitro study evaluated and compared sealing ability of Diadent BioAggregate (DBA) as a new root-end filling material (REFM) versus amalgam, intermediate restorative material (IRM) and white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA).Materials and Methods:Crowns of sixty extracted human maxillary incisors were sectioned at the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ). All the roots were instrumented and obturated with gutta-percha and resin sealer. Obturated roots were divided randomly into 2 control groups and 4 experimental groups of 10 samples each. In the negative control group (group I), roots were kept without any further preparation. In the positive and experimental groups roots, were apically resected and root-end cavities were prepared and filled with: (a) gutta-percha (group 2-positive control group); (b) amalgam (group 3); (c) IRM (group 4); (d) WMTA (group 5); (e) DBA (group 6). Apical leakage was assessed using dye penetration technique. Data were submitted to statistical analysis by the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test.Results:Significant difference of sealing ability was found among 4 tested groups. DBA followed by MTA showed the highest sealing ability.Conclusions:DBA with its high sealing ability can be considered a possible alternative to MTA.

The main aim of this present systematic review is to ascertain whether a conservative endodontic cavity (ConsAC) has a better fracture resistance than a traditional access cavity (TradAC) in endodontically treated molars. Materials and Methods: Three independent reviewers researched without limits in multiple engines: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, ResearchGate, EBSCOhost, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar, in addition to reference and hand search. Articles were chosen according to a certain inclusion and exclusion criteria, which, in brief, are in vitro studies assessing the fracture resistance difference between ConsAC and TradAC performed on extracted sound human molar teeth. A quality assessment criteria was produced to evaluate the chosen articles and categorized them according to their risk of bias into low, moderate and high. Results: Out of a total of 105 studies, which were obtained from seven different search engines, only eight in vitro studies were included after eliminating the duplicates followed by the application of the eligibility criteria. Five of the articles showed low risk of bias while the others revealed a moderate risk of bias. Conclusion:To sum up, there is insufficient evidence to give a final decision whether ConsAC is more advantageous than TradAC in terms of fracture resistance and further studies regarding this topic are needed.

Background: We live in a time where traditional education has rapidly incorporated online modalities due to the recent SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) safety measures such as social distancing. Regardless of these challenges, health education constantly strives to implement the best technologies available for an effective student deep learning outcome. Virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in the dental pre-clinical stage may help stimulate students to better understand the foundation material prescribed in the curriculum. Most visual material available for students is still mainly based on 2D graphics. Thus, this study will attempt to evaluate the students' perceptions about implementing VR/AR technologies in the learning setting. Methods: A single-group pretest-posttest design will be implemented where students will be exposed to VR/AR and fill out two questionnaires, one before and one after the exposure. Conclusions: This project is intended to start once the institutional ethical approval is obtained. It is expected that the analysis from the current project will provide recommendations to improve the students' academic curriculum pre-clinical experience. The recommendations will be provided in the form of at least three scientific publications, with one publication for each subject area intended to be evaluated (i.e., head and neck anatomy, dental anatomy, and removable prosthodontics).