Stress among Dental Students: Brief Review and Messages to All Related

ress is a human’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. It affects almost every human being. Here, we reviewed several selected publications related to dental stress among dental students. Dentistry is a branch of medical specialties that focus on its study in the oral and para-oral structures and tissues. Number of years for students to graduate from a dental program varies from one country to another. Literature has high number of publications related to “stress” and “dentistry”. In this brief review, the main areas of stress among dental students that are presented include: (1) sources and (2) prevalence. At the end, we have included some suggestions that may lead to lowering stress among dental students.

Early Childhood Caries - Essential Information for Primary Healthcare Providers

Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases of childhood. It represents a significant disease burden with long-term consequences for a child's health and well-being. Primary health care providers (pediatricians, family physicians, pediatric nurses) are the first point of contact for parents for any child health-related issues as they see them repeatedly in the first few years of life for vaccinations and "well-baby" visits. However, their awareness regarding caries in primary dentition and its complications may be limited. This article has summarized important information on ECC, focusing on the health care provider's role in its early diagnosis and prevention.

Dento-Skeletal Abnormalities in School-aged Children in Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate skeleto-dental abnormalities in 9-11-year-old school children, in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this population-based cross-sectional descriptive study, a random cluster sampling was done among 19 school districts. A total of 1,429 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse Iranian schoolchildren, aged 9-11 years were studied. A brief questionnaire including background information such as gender and age was completed by the parents. Clinical examinations included the evaluation of sagittal and vertical skeletal relationship, Facial form (facial index), and the presence of significant asymmetry. Results: There were 758 males and 671 females with the mean age of 10 years±8 months. According to the sagittal skeletal relationship, the most prevalent type was convex (63%) that presenting the skeletal Cl II jaw relation; followed by straight (32.9%); and then concave (4.1%). In the vertical skeletal relationship, 73.9% of the children had an average facial relationship, 18.4 % had a long face pattern; and 7.8% had a short face pattern. Regarding facial form in the frontal view, the most common was the average form (79.3%); followed by narrow (14%); and broad (6.7%). The prevalence of significant facial asymmetry was 15.2%. Conclusion: The prevalence of dento-skeletal abnormalities were high. The majority of the Iranian schoolchildren, aged 9-11 years, had at least one dento-skeletal abnormality, even though it is commonly preventable.

Barriers to Health Care for Children with Orofacial Clefts: A Systematic Literature Review and Recommendations for Research Priorities

Background: There is a growing interest in health services research of orofacial clefts (OFC) in the United States. The objective of this study is to summarize the empirical knowledge to date about barriers to health care for children with OFC. Methods: We completed a systematic literature review to identify articles on barriers to health care for children with OFC in the United States. Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, and Medline were searched from their dates of origin through June 2018 using a combination of key terms related to access and barriers to health care. Case reports and studies of populations outside of the United States were excluded. Results: 4079 publications were identified using our search strategy. After a title and abstract review, 18 were included in our review as they met inclusion criteria. These studies examined health care costs, health insurance coverage, access to team care, geographic barriers, adequacy of training of community-based providers in providing services to children with OFC, and socioeconomic and demographic factors. The key findings indicate much higher health care costs for children with OFC than unaffected children early in childhood, racial/ethnic disparities in certain access measures, and inadequate insurance coverage, distance to teams, and inadequate training of community-based providers in OFC-specific services as potential areas of concern. Except for studies on health care costs, the evidence is largely based on relatively small and primarily descriptive studies. Conclusions: The extant literature documents high health care costs for OFC treatments and suggests inadequate insurance coverage, long distance to cleft teams, and racial/ethnic disparities as critical factors related to access. We discuss multiple future research priorities. Among these, understanding the impacts of variation between states in mandates for private insurance benefits and generosity in Medicaid coverage on access to care as well as effects of differences in provider reimbursements are particularly understudied areas that can be meaningful for policymaking aimed at improving access and health outcomes of children with OFC. Examining access throughout childhood and later in life and employing robust designs and population-representative data are also important research and methodological extensions of the current literature.

Clinical Application of Violet LED In-office Bleaching with or without Traditional Systems: Case Series

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy and tooth sensitivity of bleaching with the novel violet LED light used in different in-office approaches. Clinical Considerations: Three patients were submitted to anamnesis, clinical and radiographic exams and to different bleaching protocols and materials. Case report I: Violet LED light was applied in 20 irradiations of 1 minute at 30-s intervals without the use of peroxide agents. After eight appointments with 4 or 7-day intervals, no tooth sensitivity (TS) was reported and color changed from A2 to A1 and from B3 to A2 in upper central incisor (tooth 11) and upper canine (tooth 13), respectively. Case report II: The same protocol established for violet LED light application was used and associated with 37% carbamide peroxide in three appointments at intervals of 7 days. Color changed from A3,5 to B2 (tooth 13), and provoked TS was reported. Case report III: 35% hydrogen peroxide was associated with the same violet LED regimen and number of sessions. Although spontaneous TS was reported in low levels, color changed from A2 to B1 (tooth 11) and from A3 to B1 (tooth 13). Conclusion: Although the three treatments promoted different bleaching responses, in vitro and in vivo investigations of the violet LED protocols are still necessary. In addition, the fact that the sensitivity levels obtained are compatible with conventional bleaching treatments demonstrated that violet LED light is possibly adequate for clinical use. Clinical Significance: Bleaching of vital teeth with violet LED with or without peroxide agents exhibited acceptable clinical results and low sensitivity responses.