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Introduction: Special needs dentistry (SND) is an emerging dental specialty, with ongoing developments in education and clinical practice focused towards the tailored management of individuals with special needs (SN). Patients with SN have a higher prevalence of oral diseases and unmet dental needs compared to the general population. Although inadequate training and experience in managing patients with SN has been highlighted as a significant barrier to accessing care, there is limited data about the extent of SND teaching at the entry‐to‐practice or higher levels. Methods: This work is the first to map SND curricula globally, across 180 countries and 1265 dental schools. Results: Although 74.62% of dental schools were found in developing economies, the distribution of programs that reported SND in their courses was highly skewed towards developed countries. In terms of advanced degrees, beyond basic entry‐to‐practice training, the USA delivered 60% of the SND programs, followed by Canada (15.56%), UK (13.33%), and Australia (8.89%). The term SND appeared in 33.95% of entry‐to‐practice level program curricula and was less commonly used in transitioning economies. Only 112 SND‐specialized practitioners enter the workforce globally each year from developed economies, and all but three advanced degrees are found in G7 countries. Conclusion: By exploring the impact of economic status on its distribution, this paper highlighted the lack of SND representation in dental curricula, especially amongst programs in transitioning or developing economies. Education of both general dentists and specialists is critical as a collaborative effort is needed to manage the growing population of patients with SN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The neuropeptide RFRP-3 (RFamide-related peptide-3) is thought to play a role in the negative regulation of fertility. However, the exogenous administration of RFRP-3 yields varying results depending on the dose and route of administration, sex of the subject, and many other variables. Manipulation of in vivo neuronal activity using DREADDs (designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs) technology enables investigation of cell type-specific neuronal activation in a manner that better reflects endogenous neuronal activity., Objective: To test the effects of RFRP neuronal activation on pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion., Methods: We generated mice expressing the stimulatory hM3Dq designer receptor exclusively in RFRP cells using 2 different Cre-loxP-mediated approaches: (1) we bred mice to express hM3Dq in all Rfrp -Cre-expressing cells, including some that transiently expressed Rfrp -Cre neonatally (RFRP × hM3Dq mice), and (2) we stereotaxically injected Cre-dependent hM3Dq into the dorsomedial nucleus of RFRP-Cre mice to drive hM3Dq expression exclusively in a subpopulation of adult Rfrp -Cre neurons (RFRP-AAV-hM3Dq mice). We then investigated the effects of acute hM3Dq activation on LH pulse frequency in RFRP × hM3Dq mice, RFRP-AAV-hM3Dq mice, and their respective controls., Results: In both female RFRP × hM3Dq and RFRP-AAV-hM3Dq mice, chemogenetic activation of Cre-driven hM3Dq led to a significant 35% to 50% reduction in LH pulse frequency compared with controls, while no differences in pulse amplitude or mean LH concentration were observed. In marked contrast, RFRP activation did not cause any changes to LH pulse dynamics in male mice., Conclusions: These data show for the first time that activation of neurons that have expressed Rfrp , or of a subset of adult RFRP neurons, can independently suppress LH pulsatility in female, but not male mice., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.)