Objectives A multicentre survey was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on dental practice worldwide, estimate the COVID-19 related symptoms/signs, work attitudes and behaviour and the routine use of protective measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods A global survey using a standardized questionnaire with research groups from 36 countries was designed. The questionnaire was developed and pretested during April 2020 and contained three domains: 1) personal data; 2) COVID-19 positive rate and symptoms/signs presumably related to the coronavirus; 3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak. Countries’ data were grouped by the country positive rate (CPR) during the survey period and by Gross-National-Income per capita. An ordinal multinomial logistic regression model was carried out with COVID-19 self-reported rate referred by dental professionals as dependent variable to assess the association with questionnaire items. Results A total of 52,491 questionnaires were returned with a male/female ratio of 0.63. Out of the total respondents, 7,859 dental professionals (15%) reported symptoms/signs compatible with COVID-19. More than half of the sample (n=27,818; 53%) stated to use FFP2/N95 masks, while 21,558 (41.07%) used eye protection. In the bivariate analysis, CPR and N95/FFP2 were significantly associated (OR=1.80 95% CI=1.60/2.82 and OR=5.20 95% CI=1.44/18.80, respectively), while Gross-National-Income was not statistically associated with CPR (OR=1.09 95% CI=0.97/1.60). The same significant associations were observed in the multivariate analysis . Conclusions Oral health service provision has not been significantly affected by COVID-19, although access to routine dental care was reduced due to country-specific temporary lockdown periods. While the dental profession has been identified at high-risk, the reported rates of COVID-19 for dental professionals were not significantly different to those reported for the general population in each country. These findings may help to better plan oral health care for future pandemic events.

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Background: Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is associated with the onset of caries. Since root exposure in patients affected by periodontitis leads to higher caries rates, progressively more severe forms of periodontal disease might associate with elevated counts of S. mutans. Aim: To determine whether increasingly destructive forms of periodontal disease are associated with higher counts of S. mutans in untreated patients. Methods: 206 subjects aged 20-75 were classified into three groups according to the severity of periodontal disease: 1) gingivitis, 2) chronic slight periodontitis and 3) chronic moderate or chronic severe periodontitis. S. mutans counts (cfu/mL) were obtained by direct counting on selective agar plates from saliva samples. A cumulative proportional logistic regression model was adjusted for S. mutans counts. Results: The model failed to show differences by gender, but periodontal diagnosis had a significant effect on S. mutans counts depending on age. While in the group with moderate and severe periodontitis the probability of having high counts of S. mutans significantly increased with age, the probability remained unchanged in individuals with chronic slight periodontitis or gingivitis. Conclusion: High S. mutans levels appear directly co-associated with increased severity of periodontal disease at older ages in untreated patients.

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RESUMEN Objetivos: Se ha reportado una mayor tasa de caries en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 (DM), probablemente debido a cambios en los patrones de dieta. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar si existe una asociación entre la composición de macronutrientes de la dieta y la caries en sujetos con DM. Métodos: Una muestra compuesta por 33 sujetos con DM y 37 controles sin la patología fue examinada para determinar la experiencia de caries mediante el índice COPD y la prevalencia de caries radiculares con ICDAS II. Se aplicó una encuesta de dieta de reporte de 24 horas. Para determinar la composición de la dieta, los alimentos fueron clasificados acorde al contenido de macronutrientes; carbohidratos, proteínas y lípidos (gramos/día, kilocalorías y porcentaje del nutriente/día). Resultados: Los resultados fueron analizados mediante Kruskal-Wallis y Mann-Whitney. Un análisis de correlación y un modelo de regresión lineal se utilizaron para analizar la asociación entre composición de macronutrientes y la tasa de caries coronales y radiculares, con un nivel de significancia del 95%. Resultados: Los pacientes diabéticos tipo 2 mostraron mayor número de dientes perdidos por caries, más dientes obturados y más caries radiculares (p<0.05) que los controles sin DM. Los diabéticos presentaron menor consumo de carbohidratos (p=0.021), pero mayor consumo de proteínas (p=0.0405) que los controles. Se verificó una asociación directa entre un mayor consumo de proteínas con una tasa mayor de caries radiculares en pacientes con DM (p<0.001). Conclusión: Las diferencias en el consumo de macronutrientes en pacientes con DM no se relacionan con tasas diferenciales de caries coronales, pero un mayor consumo de proteínas se asocia con una mayor prevalencia de caries radiculares. ABSTRACT Objectives: Higher caries rates have been reported for type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (DM). Changes in dietary patterns may be partly responsible. The aim of this study was to examine a potential association between dietary macronutrient composition and caries experience in DM patients. Methods: Thirty three adults with DM and thirty seven controls, not affected by DM, were examined to assess coronal caries through DMFT index and root caries by ICDAS II. A 24-hr diet recall survey was used to determine dietary macronutrient composition supplemented with standardized tables and expressed as grams /day, kilocalories/nutrient and percentage of nutrient/day. Results were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney. A correlation analysis was performed and a linear regression model was built for a potential association between macronutrient composition and coronal or root caries. A 95% significance level was set. Results: DM patients showed lower remaining teeth, more fillings and more root caries (p<0.05) than controls. Lower carbohydrate consumption (p=0.021), but higher protein intake (p=0.0405) was observed in DM patients as compared with controls. A statistically significant association between an increased protein consumption and h...