The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly escalated into a worldwide pandemic, creating a global health and economic crisis. It is a novel virus which is distinct from SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, with Chinese horseshoe bats being the most probable origin. Transmission occurs primarily through droplet spread or contact routes. Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infection between dental health care personnel (DHCP) and patients can be very high. This article provides a brief overview of the structure of the virus, modes of transmission, and clinical features of COVID-19 disease. The aim of this article is to recommend infection control strategies and patient management protocols to provide optimum dental care and simultaneously prevent nosocomial infection in dental settings.

The recent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused widespread public health concerns. Despite huge efforts to contain the disease spread, it is still on the rise because of the community spread pattern of this infection. In order to prevent the community spread, a nationwide lockdown was implemented, due to which many restrictions were imposed on movements of citizens within the country. Since the dental professionals were at the forefront of acquiring the infection, the majority of the dental clinics were shut for routine dental procedures. Only emergency treatment was provided to the patients. However, due to restrictions in movement, it was difficult for the patients to visit the clinics for routine check-ups. This was overcome by the advancements in technology which has a major impact on medicine. Due to increased usage of smartphones and related software applications, the clinical data exchange was facilitated between patients and clinicians which has been termed as “teledentistry.” Teledentistry is a combination of telecommunications and dentistry, involving the exchange of clinical information and images for dental consultation and treatment planning. This technology served as a boon for the dentists to manage dental emergencies during the lockdown period. This narrative review discusses teledentistry and its applications in general and specialty dental practice amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.

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Background: The occlusal characteristics vary among different populations and ethnic groups. Any deviations in occlusion in primary dentition would be carried to succeeding permanent dentition and to a more pronounced degree. Therefore, it is important to know the occlusion in primary dentition as it helps to predict the occlusion in permanent dentition. To assess the occlusal characteristics of primary dentition and differenceAim: in various parameters in children between 3 to 5 years of age. Each child was examined with teeth in centric occlusion withMethods and Material: the aid of mouth mirror and probe in natural light by a single examiner. Frequency distribution was done with Chi square test using SPSS 21 software. Mesial step was the most prevalent molar relationship. It was seen in 57.5% of subjects on right side and 53.5% on left side.Results: Percentage distribution of canine relationship was 70.3% and 89.0% in Class I and Class II respectively. 56.5% of children had normal overbite, 24.0% had increased overbite, 15.3% had edge-to-edge bite and 4.3% had open bite. The prevalence of normal overbite was observed in 56.5% of population. Early detection of any dental abnormalities will help us provide a more comprehensive treatment to the child.

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Objectives: Dental caries is a common chronic disease amongst children and are typically evaluated using the DMFT/deft index (decayed, missing, and filled teeth for permanent dentition/decayed, extracted, and filled teeth for primary dentition). To address the limitations associated with these indices, alternative assessment tools such as the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) index and Ora test have been developed. These methods aim to estimate caries activity within the oral cavity more accurately. The objective of our study was to evaluate and correlate caries activity in 5-to-8-year-old children using Ora test and CAST index. Materials and Methods: Thirty schoolchildren between the ages of 5 and 8 years were selected and allocated into two groups (n=15) with DMFT/deft scores of <5 (group A) and >5 (group B). Two separate blinded examiners administered the assessments by first determining CAST scoring, which was followed by Ora test. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson correlation test and significance was set at P≤0.05. Results: The mean time for color change of Ora test, was 118.53±23.28 minutes in group A and 53.33±15.07 minutes in group B. CAST severity scores were 3.67±2.08 and 15.7±9.70 for groups A and B, respectively. Time taken for color change in Ora test and CAST scores showed a significant negative linear relationship (P=0.039). Conclusion: Based on the negative correlation between CAST scores and Ora test, it may be postulated that microbial activity is directly related to caries activity in 5-to-8-year-old children.

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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread rapidly across the world and has become a major health emergency in many countries around the globe. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, following an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown cause in December 2019, with most early cases of exposure to live animal market. On 31st December 2019, China announced the outbreak to the World Health Organization (WHO). On 30 th January 2020, WHO declared the latest outbreak of coronavirus as a public health emergency of international concern and then on March 11 th 2020 it was declared as a global pandemic. 1 COVID-19 is known to be caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) virus.