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Background/Objectives: The technical development of implant-supported fixed dental prostheses (iFDP) initially concentrated on the computer-aided manufacturing of prosthetic restorations (CAM). Advances in information technologies have shifted the focus for optimizing digital workflows to AI-based processes for design (CAD). This pre-clinical pilot trial investigated the feasibility of the automatic design of three-unit iFDPs using CAD software (Dental Manger 2021, 3Shape; DentalCAD 3.1 Rijeka, exocad GmbH). Methods: Two clinical scenarios based on a full dentition were created virtually. Physical models were produced and digitized using two intraoral scanners applying quadrant or full-arch scans (Trios3, 3Shape, Copenhagen, Denmark; and Primescan AC, Dentsply Sirona, Bensheim, Germany). For each scenario, iFDP designs were generated automatically using two laboratory software systems (Dental Manger 2021, 3Shape; DentalCAD 3.1 Rijeka, exocad GmbH), resulting in 80 STL datasets (2 scenarios × 2 scan strategies × 2 IOS systems × 5 scan repetitions × 2 software). The files were analyzed clinically for the contact schemes and pontic area. One of the automated designs for each scenario was manually post-processed and one iFDP design for each scenario was manually created by experienced dental technicians (control). The time required for all the design processes was recorded. Results: The automatic design of iFDPs without manual adjustment did not lead to clinically acceptable restorations. The time required for the automatically generated/manually adjusted iFDPs designs was not significantly different to that for the manually designed restorations. Conclusions: Current laboratory software can not automatically generate three-unit iFDPs with clinically acceptable results in terms of the interproximal and occlusal contacts and the pontic design. The automatic iFDP design process currently requires manual adjustment, which means there is no benefit in terms of the working time compared with manually created restorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of digital technologies in dental technician education revolutionized the profession in Asian countries. Despite the growing adoption of digital methods, national examinations predominantly relied on traditional techniques. This study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of national examination standards and digital course integration in dental technician education among 5 countries including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, and China. Data were collected from government agencies, universities, academic organizations, professional associations, and relevant certifying institutions. The study examined the educational methodologies and regulatory frameworks in these countries, focusing on incorporating digital technologies in training and assessment. The findings revealed significant variations in the integration of digital technologies. Japan and South Korea made substantial progress in embedding digital education in their curricula, while the Philippines and China remained in the early stages. Taiwan showed a balanced approach with a mixture of digital and traditional methods. Practical examinations in most countries remained rooted in conventional techniques, highlighting a gap between educational advancements and examination practices. To better prepare students for the evolving demands of the dental technology industry, it was crucial to adopt a balanced approach that combined digital learning with hands-on training. This study advocated for educational reforms that bridged the gap between traditional training methods and modern digital practices. Enhanced international cooperation and the continuous updating of training programs were essential for advancing the quality of dental technician education, which in turn improved overall oral health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Aesthetics is a challenging aspect to restore for both dentists and dental technicians. One of the characteristics of aesthetic restoration is the shade. The purpose of the study is to assess the accuracy of the shade selection feature of intraoral scanners (CEREC Omnican, 3Shape TRIOS) in comparison with an already established method—the VITA Easyshade V spectrophotometer (VE)—and test if there is any significant difference between the three devices. Methods: To conduct this in vitro study, the VITA Classical shade guide was used. The intraoral scanners would not be able to scan the VITA Classical as it is, hence, a study model (SM) was fabricated. To be able to test the accuracy of the intraoral scanners (IOSs) in detecting the dental color, a spectrophotometer had to be included in the study, as it was shown that it is the most accurate instrument for this purpose. Therefore, for the current study, the VITA Easyshade V spectrophotometer (VITA Zahnfabrik, Bad Sackingen, Germany) was selected. Results: The accuracy of the three devices when measuring the shade of the study model was calculated as a percentage. When comparing the primary results of the VE and the results obtained by the Omnicam and TRIOS, the latter is the most accurate (26.67%), whereas the other two scored 20%. The study also revealed the limitations of the instrumental devices that were used. Conclusions: First, both the VE and IOSs obtained unexpectedly low accuracy results. Possibly, the material VC is made of influenced the final accuracy values, but in practice, on a daily basis, dental materials represent a factor that cannot really be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a crown generation procedure, dental technicians depend on commercial software to generate a margin line to define the design boundary for the crown. The margin line generation remains a non-reproducible, inconsistent, and challenging procedure. In this work, we propose to generate margin line points on prepared teeth meshes using adaptive point learning inspired by the AdaPointTr model. We extracted ground truth margin lines as point clouds from the prepared teeth and crown bottom meshes. The chamfer distance (CD) and infoCD loss functions were used for training a supervised deep learning model that outputs a margin line as a point cloud. To enhance the generation results, the deep learning model was trained based on three different resolutions of the target margin lines, which were used to back-propagate the losses. Five folds were trained and an ensemble model was constructed. The training and test sets contained 913 and 134 samples, respectively, covering all teeth positions. Intraoral scanning was used to collect all samples. Our post-processing involves removing outlier points based on local point density and principal component analysis (PCA) followed by a spline prediction. Comparing our final spline predictions with the ground truth margin line using CD, we achieved a median distance of 0.137 mm. The median Hausdorff distance was 0.242 mm. We also propose a novel confidence metric for uncertainty quantification of generated margin lines during deployment. The metric was defined based on the percentage of removed outliers during the post-processing stage. The proposed end-to-end framework helps dental professionals in generating and evaluating margin lines consistently. The findings underscore the potential of deep learning to revolutionize the detection and extraction of 3D landmarks, offering personalized and robust methods to meet the increasing demands for precision and efficiency in the medical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral health in Africa is often overlooked despite its substantial impact on overall health and well-being. Currently, Africa has a very high prevalence of dental diseases, including untreated dental caries in permanent teeth, severe periodontal disease and oral cancer. Dental human resources are also very low, with dentists ranging from 1.77 to 0.03 per 10,000 population across the continent. The number of technicians also varies across the continent from 0.17 to.0.1 per 10,000 population. Southern Africa has the highest median dental assistants and therapists per 10,000 population ratio (0.2), whereas Northern Africa has no dental assistants or therapists. In addition, limited infrastructure and funding have resulted in significant oral health disparities, leaving large portions of the population without adequate access to oral health services. Only 57% of African countries have developed an oral health policy that sets targets and implementation strategies. African countries have also been shown to spend a fraction of their health budget on oral health care, albeit that dentistry is one of the most expensive medical services. Addressing these gaps requires addressing the oral health workforce needs, facilitating the development of oral health policies built on context-specific evidence, and guiding practice and policy. In addition, partnerships are needed to support innovation, sustainability and monitoring of the instituted oral health programs.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of current communication practices and the understanding of technicians regarding written prescriptions. Methodology: This Questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted in Lahore, from Aug 2023 to May 2024, to assess communication quality between dentists and dental technicians. The sample consisted of 50 dental technicians currently employed in ten different private and public dental laboratories in Lahore, Punjab. The selection of participants was carried out using non-probability convenient sampling. Undergraduate students pursuing dental technology were excluded from the study to maintain a focus on experienced professionals who actively participate in dental restoration processes. Data were collected using a modified standardized questionnaire, including items on demographics and communication quality. Data was collected, reviewed for completeness, and analyzed using SPSS v24. Results: Most dental technicians (n=38, 68%) possess a BSc degree in dental technology with work experience ranging from 1 to 45 years. Communication preferences varied notably across workplace settings. About 46% (n=23) of the technician favored direct communication. There was a significant difference in communication modes between these settings (p=0.001), with a preference for personal visits, particularly among technicians from teaching institutes (n=23, 88.5%). The majority (n=42, 84%) reported positive receptivity from dentists, and 62% (n=31) indicated that communication was encouraged, particularly in teaching institutes. Issues regarding blank prescription cards were mixed, with 36% (n=18) never receiving them and 50% (n=25) consulting clinicians in such cases. Only 36% (n=18) of technicians felt they received sufficient information. Conclusion: Most technicians prefer direct communication from dentists, particularly in teaching institutes, compared to those in commercial labs who favor phone calls. A major concern was the lack of sufficient information and blank patient prescriptions from dentists. Addressing these gaps through standardized protocols, modern digital tools, and enhanced training can improve patient outcomes.

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Aim of the study. The emergence of digital technologies, eases the work of the dental technician and reduces the actual working time in reproduction the dental morphology, but at the same time, the use of a large number of devices can increase the degree of error of the final restoration in the absence of appropriate adjustments. For this reason, this study made a comparison between the classic wax-up method and the digital one to see the degree of accuracy now. Materials and methods. Starting from a model with intact morphology in the area of maxillary premolars and molars, the removal of the upper 1st molar and the grinding of the neighboring teeth were carried out. The restoration of the morphology was carried out by analog but also digital wax-up. Analysis was performed in 26 landmarks and relevant statistical differences were checked using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon MannWhitney tests. Results. The largest variations were recorded in the case of analog wax-up, statistical significance p<0,01 show differences for each individual tooth, and for the entire set of teeth. Conclusions. The study results show that the digital wax-up offers clearly superior results compared to the analog wax-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral health is high on the global agenda following the adoption of the 2022 global strategy on oral health at the 75th World Health Assembly. Given the global burden of oral disease, workforce development to achieve universal health coverage [UHC] is crucial to respond to population needs within the non-communicable disease agenda. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the oral health workforce [OHWF] globally in relation to key contextual factors. Data from the National Health Workforce Accounts and a survey of World Health Organization [WHO] member states were integrated for analysis, together with country-level data on population and income status. Data are presented using the WHO categorisation of global regions and income status categories established by the World Bank. Workforce densities for key OHWF categories were examined. Multiple regression was used to model workforce density and contextual influences. Challenges and possible solutions were examined by country income status. There are approximately 3.30 dentists per 10,000 population globally, and a combined OHWF [dentists, dental assistants/therapists and dental prosthetic technicians] of 5.31 per 10,000. Marked regional inequalities are evident, most notably between WHO European and African regions; yet both make greater use of skill mix than other regions. When adjusted by region, 'country income status' and 'population urbanization' are strong predictors of the workforce density of dentists and even more so for the combined OHWF. Maldistribution of the workforce [urban/rural] was considered a particular workforce challenge globally and especially for lower-income countries. Strengthening oral health policy was considered most important for the future. The global distribution of dentists, and the OHWF generally, is inequitable, with variable and limited use of skill mix. Creative workforce development is required to achieve the global oral health agenda and work towards equity using innovative models of care, supported by effective governance and integrated policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the health professional's knowledge, atitude, and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Karachi, Pakistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Karachi Pakistan, from Mar to Jul 2020. Methodology: A total of 228 healthcare professionals, i.e. specialists, physicians, nurses, and technicians working in the district East of Karachi were included. Independent sample t test and ANOVA were used for inferential statistics. Results: Our findings showed that 95% study participants had a good knowledge regarding the infection and 81.8% showed a positive atitude towards the infection with over 98% reporting good professional practices regarding COVID-19 infection control. Conclusion: These findings underscore the effectiveness of ongoing education and training initiatives among health professionals in Karachi, contributing to their preparedness and ability to effectively respond to the chalenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a topical solution used for managing dental caries. The mixed-methods study consists of a quantitative study (questionnaire survey) and a qualitative study (in-depth interview) to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards SDF among dentists in Vietnam. A descriptive approach and a thematic approach were performed to analyze data, respectively. The questionnaire survey invited 436 licensed dentists registered for the national annual dental meeting and 226 dentists participated (response rate: 52%). Among them, 174 (77%, 174/226) dentists knew SDF, and 69 (40%, 69/174) dentists used SDF for caries management. Most of them considered SDF therapy as non-invasive (84%, 146/174) and simple (80%, 140/174). However, most of them expressed concern that SDF could discolor the tooth (74%, 128/174). Their most preferred teeth for SDF therapy were primary posterior teeth (92%, 160/174). The in-depth interview consulted 16 dentists to reach data saturation. They learned about SDF from outside curriculum resources as an effective anti-caries agent. They understood the advantages (simple, non-invasive, timesaving) and disadvantages (tooth discoloring, ammonia odor) of SDF. They used SDF to arrest caries in uncooperative children in the clinic and people living in rural areas in outreach services. Most dentists in Vietnam are supportive of SDF therapy, and they know its advantages and disadvantages for caries management. The results addressed the aim of the study to investigate Vietnamese dentists' perspectives towards SDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anterior teeth restoration represents a challenge for dentists, who often rely on the dental technician's wax-up. The proposed Stratified Stamp Technique (SST) allows for clinically reproducing the wax-up in a quick and easy way. A patient with fractures and discoloration on the upper central incisors was treated with resin-based composite direct restorations. Using SST, a 1 mm thick thermoformed polyethylene-terephthalate-glycol (PETG) template, based on the technician's wax-up, was produced. Enamel Selective Area Reduction (SAR) was performed to guarantee adequate space for the restorations, and the fracture margins were rounded and finished. Traditional layering procedures according to the five color dimensions of teeth were performed, except for the final labial layer, which was realized with warm composite loaded inside the template and polymerized through it, in order to ensure accurate tooth morphology reproduction. SST offers a reliable method for transferring technician's wax-up morphology to direct composite restorations in anterior teeth. Compared with other methods, SST allows for better isolation with a rubber dam and permits traditional layering with multiple composite shades, thus leading to satisfactory esthetic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring the morphology and functionality of dental arches affected by carious lesions and/or edentations using fixed prosthetic restorations has been a continuous challenge for dentists. Porcelain fused to metal prosthetic restorations using lost wax technique or modern digital methods have proven to be a useful tool in restoring aesthetics and mastication, aspects that lead to the social reintegration of patients. The natural aspect of the prosthetic restoration depends on the talent and inspiration of the dental technician as the art of layering of ceramic masses cannot be surpassed by new emerging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Circular economy promotes resource sustainability and has a positive impact on the environment. It helps in the sustainable use of biomedical waste (BMW) that is generated in dental care facilities and laboratories. This article assesses the knowledge and attitude toward the practice of circular economy in conjunction with BMW management among dental practitioners and technicians. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. Based on the findings from the pilot study, the sample size was estimated and 640 total participants were included. Reliability of the questionnaire comprising of 23 close-ended questions were assessed with Cronbach's α value of 0.85, face validity of 84%, and content validity ratio of 0.78. Statistical Analysis: Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, chi-square test, analysis of variance test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression. Results: Mean overall knowledge score was highest among faculty (5.28 T 1.53) and least among technicians (1.88 T 0.84). There was a statistically significant difference in knowledge among the five groups (p < 0.001). Majority of the participants had a positive attitude toward circular economy; however, technicians had the least mean overall attitude scores (7.50 T 1.84). A positive linear correlation was seen between the knowledge and attitude scores. The dependence of various demographic variables on knowledge and attitude was found to be 46.1 and 11.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Dental faculty had significantly higher knowledge compared with other dental practitioners and technicians. However, knowledge on circular economy was below the optimal level among the participants, but all had predominantly favorable attitude toward circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]