Background The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is unprecedented, posing greater threats to vulnerable healthcare systems, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of dental healthcare providers in Nigeria about the disease and evaluate their responses to the preventive measures necessitated by COVID-19. Methods This was an online self-administered questionnaire-based study conducted among dentists practicing in Nigeria. A message containing the link to the survey was sent widely via social medial platforms and electronic mails to dentists practicing in Nigeria. The data collection was done between the 2nd of June and 3rd of July 2020. Results A total of 314 responses was recorded. Fever was the most specified generalized symptom (97.5%), while the use of masks (100%), hand hygiene (99.7%), social distancing (97.7%) and surface cleaning (99.4%) were the most commonly employed general preventive methods. The main identified risk of transmission in the clinic was aerosol generating procedures (98.7%). Conclusion The general knowledge of dental personnel in our study population appears to be adequate on the common clinical features of COVID-19 but less adequate regarding the less common features. The COVID-19 pandemic has also modified some aspects of dental service delivery but more needs to be done in this regard. Preventive measures against the transmission of COVID-19 in dental practice settings include proper utilization of teledentistry, clinical triage, preprocedural 1% hydrogen peroxide oral rinses, and the use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which should always be encouraged.

Background: Age estimation for sporting activities, legal age determination and migration purpose is oftentimes essential, which makes the need for a scientifically proven method of age estimation an important aspect of medical practice. Forensic odontology is an essential aspect of forensic practice and may be a veritable tool in age estimation. Aim and Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of orthopantomograms (OPG) in age estimation among selected Nigerians. Methodology: A retrospective assessment of 202 OPGs was done to review the visibility of the periodontal ligament of third molars with completed root formation according to the methods described by Olze et al (2010). Individual ages were then calculated by deducting date of exposure from the date of birth recorded in years. Mean age with standard deviation were calculated for each group. Results: Assessing the minimum and maximum age at which each of the stages of the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament as seen on the OPGs revealed that there was a gradual increase in the age at which the stage increment occurred, with a few exceptions. Comparison of the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament revealed that males tend to achieve early periodontal visibility stages compared to females, but the reverse was observed in later stages. Age 17 is more than likely attained in any person found within stages 1 to 3 as the minimum age found in these stages were above 17 years. Conclusion: With a few exceptions, the assessment of periodontal ligament visibility on OPGs can adequately predict the age of individuals. Thus, the use of this method may need to be combined with other methods in accurate determination of dental age in instances of forensic age estimation.

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is unprecedented, posing greater threats to vulnerable healthcare systems, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of dental healthcare providers in Nigeria about the disease and evaluate their responses to the preventive measures necessitated by the disease.Methods: This was an online self-administered questionnaire-based study conducted among Dentists practicing in Nigeria. A message containing the link to the survey was sent widely via social medial platforms and electronic mails to dentists practicing in Nigeria. The data collection was done between the 2nd of June and 3rd of July, 2020.Results: A total of 314 responses was recorded. Fever was the most commonly specified generalized symptom (97.5%), while the use of masks (100%), hand hygiene (99.7%), social distancing (97.7%) and surface cleaning (99.4%) were the most commonly employed general preventive methods. The main identified risk of transmission in the clinic was aerosol generating procedures (98.7%).Conclusion: The general knowledge of dental personnel in our study population appears to be adequate on the common features of COVID-19 but less adequate regarding the less common features. The COVID-19 pandemic has also modified some aspects of dental service delivery but more needs to be done in this regard.Preventive measures against the transmission of COVID-19 in dental practice settings include proper utilization of teledentistry, clinical triage, preprocedural 1% hydrogen peroxide oral rinses, and the use of appropriate PPEs which should always be encouraged.

Objective: Root canal treatment (RCT) is a major procedure in dentistry. It aims to relieve the pain of pulpal origin and maintain the affected tooth as a functional unit on the arch. Despite these achievable goals, RCT is sometimes rejected by patients. This study, therefore, sought to assess the reasons for rejection in patients planned for endodontic/RCT. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional pilot survey of patients planned for RCT using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included sociodemographics, the Index for Dental Anxiety and Fear (IDAF-4C), and questions to assess the reasons for rejection of endodontic treatment. Data collected were analysed with IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software program, version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used; chi-square was used to test the association between categorical variables. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Result: Thirty-one patients between the age range of 16 and 81 years, with a mean age of 38.16 ± 17.87, participated in the survey. Only nine (29.03%) of the participants declined to have the treatment. The majority 6(66.7%), and 7(77.8%) of those that refused the treatment did so, due to fear of drilling ( P = 0.014) and cost of treatment ( P = 0.001), respectively. Mean IDAF-4C was 1.86 ± 0.9 (standard deviation). The rejection was, however, not affected by past experience, the risk of taking multiple radiographs, and the number of hours or visits for the procedure. Conclusion: The cost of treatment and fear of drilling were the major reasons for the rejection of RCT in this study. Therefore, there is a need to further look into making endodontic treatment a more comfortable, less costly, and less fear-provoking procedure for patients.

Introduction patients´ satisfaction with their dental appearance and tooth colour is often influenced by certain factors which need to be addressed periodically among different populations. Methods a self-administered questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic data, questions on patients´ satisfaction with tooth colour, perceived malalignment of teeth, non-aesthetic anterior tooth-coloured restoration and presence of tooth fracture were distributed. Data collected was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM, SPSS version 20). Chi square was used to test the statistical differences at a significance of p> 0.05. Results a total of 410 patients (M=147, F=263) participated in the study. About 73% had tertiary education while 36.3% were within the modified ISCO-08 Group 2. The respondents that were satisfied with the general dental appearance and tooth shade were 66.3% and 63.5% respectively. More males (65.1%) than females (62.7%) were satisfied with tooth colour while more females (69.1%) were satisfied with dental appearance. The older age group were more satisfied with dental appearance and tooth colour. Awareness of tooth whitening (Over 80%) and the desire to undergo tooth whitening was more among the post-secondary individuals. More of dental patients (73.1%) than medical (59.2%) were satisfied with teeth appearance (p=0.003). Conclusion patients are increasingly aware of their dental appearance/tooth colour and the need to improve it with tooth bleaching and/or orthodontic treatment. Female were more dissatisfied with their tooth colour but more satisfied with their dental appearance than the male. Older people were more satisfied with their dental appearance and tooth colour compared to younger age group.