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Aim: This study aimed to measure dental caries and to evaluate the improvement in the knowledge and practice of Orphan Children after implementing an educational program., Materials and Methods: This study was an intervention pre-post design that included 80 children, aged 6-12 years. Intervention with an oral health education program was introduced to the orphans. The data was collected at baseline using a questionnaire to collect data about the knowledge, practice, and examination of DMFT (decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth), dft (decayed, filled deciduous teeth), and OHI-S (oral hygiene index-simplified) was done. The knowledge part of the questionnaire was distributed immediately after the intervention. After 6 months, the knowledge, practice, and OHI-S index were determined, the data were then analyzed using Mann-Whitney A U non-parametric test, Wilcoxon matched pair signed rank test, and Fridman's 2-way ANOVA test in SPSS version 25 software., Results: 89% of the children had dental caries, with mean DMFT 2.23 ± 2.1 among males and 3.3 ± 2.3 among females, dft among males was 3.1 ± 2.5 and 3.3 ± 2.1 among females. The mean score of OHI-S significantly decreased after health education intervention from 4.79 ± 1.4 to 0.62 ± 1.0. Mean scores of total knowledge and practice significantly increased after 6 months from 3.4 ± 1.3 to 7.1 ± 1.1 and 1.3 ± 0.9 to 4.9 ± 0.3, respectively., Conclusions: The orphans had moderate DMF and dft, fair knowledge about their oral cavity, poor OHI-S, and practices at baseline. The educational program had succeeded in improving their knowledge and practice., (© 2024 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Digital dentistry has revolutionized the way dental treatment is offered to patients. It became essential for dental practitioners to be well-informed about this technology to improve the quality of care offered and increase patient satisfaction. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, awareness, and perception of Egyptian dentists toward digital dentistry., Methods: An online-based cross-sectional study was conducted using social media platforms from November 2022 to March 2023. Our study sample included dentists with different levels of experience, specialties, and working in different health sectors in Egypt. A questionnaire arranged in 4 sections and 23 questions was used as the study data collection tool. The data were tabulated and analyzed using SPSS software., Results: A total of 402 participants filled out this questionnaire. 50.7% of which were females, 42.8% were between 20-29 years old and 42.3% were general practitioners. Furthermore, the main practice of 27.6% was in governmental dental clinics. Moreover, 47.3% and 64.2% of participants had Moderate knowledge and awareness respectively. While 75.9% of them had a high perception of practicing digital dentistry. Females and practitioners in governmental clinics had significantly lower awareness scores, while faculty teaching staff had significantly higher scores (P ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, practicing in the Great Cairo region and urban areas was associated with significantly higher knowledge scores (P ≤ 0.05). Similarly, Prosthodontists, periodontists, and restorative dentists had significantly higher scores when compared with general dentists (P ≤ 0.05)., Conclusions: About half of the study participants had Moderate knowledge and awareness levels, while about three-quarters of them had a high level of perception toward practicing digital dentistry. Therefore, more attention should be given to providing dental education programs in this important field at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels by policymakers., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Geriatric dentistry is an understudied area in dental schools in Egypt. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Egyptian dentists regarding geriatric oral health and identify barriers to delivering dental care to geriatric patients., Methods: We conducted an anonymous online cross-sectional study in November and December 2022, targeting dentists with varying levels of experience working in different Egyptian institutions. A 30-item questionnaire assessed the respondent's views on geriatric oral health, perceived knowledge, attitudes, and barriers. The Google form was distributed through emails and commonly used social media platforms., Results: A total of 421 dentists responded to this online questionnaire. Of the respondents, 44.9% were male, 45.0% were between 20 and 29 years old, and 31.5% worked in more than one dental setting. Multivariate analysis revealed that female sex negatively affected attitude β = -1.72 [95%CI,-2.43 - -1.11]. The proportion of older patients who visited the respondents' clinics per day (11-30%) and more than 30% increased perceived knowledge [β = 1.01 (95%CI, 0.41 -1.62), β = 1.50 (95%CI, 0.71-2.22)] and attitude [β = 0.70 (95%CI, 0.06-1.40), β = 0.73 (95%, 0.13-1.61)] while decreased the perceived barriers [β = -1.10 (95%CI, -1.91 - -0.32)] respectively. On the other hand, years of experience increased perceived knowledge only after 5-10 years [β = 1.02 (95%CI, 0.04-2.10)] and after more than 10 years [β = 1.30 (95%CI, 0.21-2.70)]. Governmental work only increased perceived barriers [β = 1.33 (95%CI, 0.10-2.54)], while living in the middle and west delta decreased perceived barriers [β = -0.91 (95%CI, -2.12 - -0.01 and β = -1.33, (95%CI, -2.22 - -0.40) respectively]., Conclusions: Our study highlights the need to improve the knowledge and attitudes of young dentists towards geriatric dentistry. Furthermore, working conditions in dental facilities, particularly in the government sector and Upper Egypt, need to be improved to reduce barriers to delivering dental care to geriatric patients., (© 2023. The Author(s).)