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Background: Arch length preservation strategies utilize leeway space or E-space in the mixed dentition to resolve mild to moderate mandibular incisor crowding. The purpose of this systematic review of the literature was to analyze the effects of arch length preservation strategies in on mandibular second permanent molar eruption. Methods: A search for relevant articles published from inception until May 2020 was performed using PubMed/Medline, Cochrane databases, Clinicaltrials.gov, Google scholar and journal databases. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were adopted for the conduct of the systematic review. Using RevMan 5.3 software, the most pertinent data were extracted and pooled for quantitative analysis with 95% confidence intervals. Heterogeneity was analyzed by using Cochran Q test and I squared statistics. Results: A total of 5 studies involving 855 mixed dentition patients with arch length preservation therapy were included in the qualitative analysis. Pooled estimate of the data from two studies revealed 3.14 times higher odds of developing mandibular second molar eruption difficulty due to arch length preservation strategies using lingual holding arch (95% CI; OR 1.10–8.92). There was no heterogeneity found in the analysis. The certainty levels were graded as very low. Conclusions: This systematic review demonstrates that arch length preservation strategies pose a risk for development of mandibular second molar eruption disturbances, but the evidence was of very low quality. Registration number: CRD42019116643. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the novel virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) causing coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) has led to a global pandemic and one of the most significant challenges to the healthcare profession. Dental practices are focal points for cross‐infection, and care must be taken to minimise the risk of infection to, from, or between dental care professionals and patients. The COVID‐19 epidemiological and clinical characteristics are still being collated but children's symptoms seem to be milder than those that adults experience. It is unknown whether certain groups, for example children with comorbidities, might be at a higher risk of more severe illness. Emerging data on disease spread in children, affected by COVID‐19, have not been presented in detail. The purpose of this article was to report current data on the paediatric population affected with COVID‐19 and highlight considerations for dentists providing care for children during this pandemic. All members of the dental team have a professional responsibility to keep themselves informed of current guidance and be vigilant in updating themselves as recommendations are changing so quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To present evidence-based recommendations on nonpharmacological behavior guidance for the pediatric dental patient. Methods: The work group assessed eight systematic reviews for effectiveness of nonpharmacological behavior guidance techniques in children undergoing preventive care or a dental treatment visit. The key outcomes assessed included cooperative behavior, anxiety, and procedural pain. To formulate the recommendations, the work group used the GRADE framework to obtain consensus on domains such as priority of the problem, certainty of the evidence, balance between desirable and undesirable consequences, patients’ values and preferences, acceptability, and feasibility. Results: Overall, the use of basic nonpharmacological behavior guidance techniques resulted in trivial-to-small effect on improvement in behavior or reduction in anxiety. However, for children and adolescents undergoing preventive care, mobile applications and modeling showed large effects in reduction of anxiety. For those undergoing dental treatment, strategies such as modeling, positive reinforcement, biofeedback relaxation, breathing relaxation, animal-assisted therapy, combined tell-show-do, audiovisual distraction, and cognitive behavior therapy showed large reduction in anxiety. For children and adolescents with special health care needs, audiovisual distraction and sensory-adapted dental environment showed large reduction of anxiety. Conclusions: All the formulated recommendations were conditional and were mostly based on very low certainty of evidence. Conditional recommendations imply that different choices or combinations of behavior guidance techniques may be most appropriate for different patients. Clinicians should use techniques consistent with the parent/patient values and preferences. These recommendations are based on the best available evidence to-date and are intended to aid clinical decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First ever dental reference datasets based on two staging systems were developed for age estimation in Hispanic children and adolescents in Texas, United States. • Amongst the different dental age estimation methods, the unweighted method showed minimum difference in females and males in both the 8-stage and 14-stage systems. • The 8-stage system provided more accurate estimates of age and it is recommended for dental age estimation in Hispanic children and adolescents in Texas. Dental tissues follow a systematic pattern of development and several radiological methods have been developed and validated. This study aims to develop and validate a reference data set (RDS) for dental development of Hispanic children and to compare the mean age using the Demirjian and Moorrees tooth developmental stage (TDS) systems. A total of 600 Dental Panoramic Tomographs (DPTs) of Hispanic children aged 6 to 17 years were obtained and reference datasets (RDS) were developed by scoring all the maxillary and mandibular teeth in the left side of the arch according to the Demirjian (8 stage) and Moorrees (14 stage) scoring systems. To validate the RDS, 120 (DPTs) separate from the RDS were randomly selected, and dental ages were calculated from the RDS using unweighted and five weighted mean average methods. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05, and a paired t -test was conducted to compare the difference between Chronological Age (CA) and Dental Age (DA) for each weighting method. For the 8-stage system, the mean (sd, se) difference between CA and DA for the unweighted method was 0.04 (0.51, 0.065) years for males, and 0.07 (0.41, 0.053) years for females. The difference was not statistically significant for all five weighting methods (p > 0.05). For the 14-stage system, CA-DA for the unweighted method was 0.17 (0.33, 0.042) years for males, and 0.13 (0.41, 0.053) years for females. The difference was statistically significant for most of the Moorrees methods (p < 0.05). Dental age derived from the unweighted average method using the reference dataset derived from Demirjian's 8-stage system is recommended for dental age estimation in Hispanic children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and training of pediatric dental residents and faculty on the management of patients who belong to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community. Methods: This cross-sectional survey included a 16-item questionnaire to assess the attitudes and training regarding the LGBTQ population, separately for pediatric dental residents and faculty across the United States. Statistical significance was set at the level of five percent, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon rank-sum, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: In total, 132 residents and 40 faculty members completed the survey (response rates equal 14.4 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively). Residents were significantly more likely to respond that requiring LGBTQ training should be in the curriculum and that they have acquired skills to provide equal service to both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ patients and families (faculty equals 35 percent, residents equals 57.6 percent; P<0.001). Residents were significantly more likely than faculty to respond that the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry should publish an exclusive policy statement regarding LGBTQ oral health disparities (faculty equals 40 percent, residents equal 62.1 percent; P=0.01). Conclusions: The resident and faculty of pediatric dentistry programs in the United States have adequate awareness of managing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) patients in the dental office and are willing to treat these patients, and most respondents have an interest in further education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Demirjian and DARLInG methods were used to estimate the age of 4–15 years old children of western Indian origin. • The DARLInG method showed relatively better estimate of age compared to Demirjian method, although the difference was not statistically significant. • In the absence of population reference data, the DARLInG method can be used to estimate the age of western Indian children. The aim of this study is to compare the accuracy of Demirjian and Dental Age Research London Information Group (DARLInG) methods of dental age estimation in western Indian children. A total of 485 dental panoramic radiographs of children aged between 4 and 15 years were included in this study. Dental age was estimated based on the degree of mineralization of permanent teeth in the left side of the arch. Dental age was estimated from the scores obtained from the Demirjian and DARLInG's United Kingdom Caucasian datasets respectively. The difference between the chronological age (CA) and dental age (DA) in each range (CA-DA) was analysed using paired t-test. The age and sex-based differences of the estimated age using the two methods were tested using ANOVA and Pearson correlation co-efficient analysis. The overall mean CA was 8.74 years and 9.00 years for boys and girls respectively. The overall mean difference (CA-DA) using the Demirjian's method for boys and girls were −0.68 years and −0.52 years respectively (p < 0.05). Using the DARLInG's method, the overall mean difference (CA-DA) was −0.31 years and −0.34 years for boys and girls respectively (p < 0.05). Between the two methods, significant differences were observed in different age groups (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation coefficient showed significant positive correlation between dental age estimated from the Demirjian and DARLInG methods (p < 0.05). The DARLInG method provided better estimate of age compared to Demirjian method in the western Indian population. However, an ethnic specific reference dataset specific to this population would likely produce accurate age estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]