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Artificial intelligence systems (AISs) gain relevance in dentistry, encompassing diagnostics, treatment planning, patient management, and therapy. However, questions about the generalizability, fairness, and transparency of these systems remain. Regulatory and governance bodies worldwide are aiming to address these questions using various frameworks. On March 13, 2024, members of the European Parliament approved the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), which emphasizes trustworthiness and human-centeredness as relevant aspects to regulate AISs beyond safety and efficacy. This review presents the AIA and similar regulatory and governance efforts in other jurisdictions and lays out that regulations such as the AIA are part of a complex ecosystem of interdependent and interwoven legal requirements and standards. Current efforts to regulate dental AISs require active input from the dental community, with participation of dental research, education, providers, and patients being relevant to shape the future of dental AISs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The education of Oral Health Professionals (OHPs) is variable across Europe and consequently, there is concern that research skills are not consistently or optimally integrated into European OHP curricula. The aim of this study is to investigate the perspectives of European OHP students regarding the inclusion of research in the undergraduate curriculum. Materials and Methods: A 21‐question online survey was administered to dental, dental hygiene, and dental hygiene and therapy students across Europe. Informed consent was obtained from participants and all responses remained confidential. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse the data. Results: A total of 825 student responses to the survey from 33 European countries were eligible for inclusion. The results demonstrated that OHP students recognise the importance of research in the dental field and value the inclusion of research in the curriculum. Although students indicated that they are interested to learn more about research, the survey results also showed that students had neutral opinions towards the existing curriculum providing enough training about research. Conclusion: European OHP students agree on the need for an open and explicit research curriculum in OHP education. The development of a research domain within an open curriculum framework would help to harmonise the teaching and assessment of OHP research skills across Europe and ultimately improve graduating OHP's research skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is mandatory in most European countries and evidence shows a move towards mandatory CPD across all Member States in the near future. Malta is one of seven Member States where dental CPD is still voluntary. Discussion: Although dental CPD is a legal requirement for recertification in many countries, integral aspects of dental CPD remain under debate, like whether CPD is truly effective. This is because the methods with which CPD programmes are evaluated are not sufficiently robust to give concrete evidence to determine whether CPD will actually improve quality of care, treatment outcomes and safety for the public. Evaluating the effect of CPD programmes on the public is an extremely difficult task that would require an enormous amount of resources and logistics. The minimum requirements for the number of compulsory CPD hours imposed by regulatory bodies are not evidence‐based but purely arbitrary, and the core topics selected for CPD programmes, although supported by research to some extent, may not reflect the public's and profession's needs. The Dental Association of Malta recognised need for further research on dental CPD and embarked on a 3‐year Dental CPD Research Project. This project will be presented in a two‐part series of articles. This first article is focused on the background of dental CPD in Europe. An understanding of the current issues with CPD and flaws in methods of evaluation formed the basis of the Malta CPD Pilot Project, which will be covered in the next paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this review is to investigate the growth of diversity and inclusion in global academic dental research with a focus on gender equality. A diverse range of research methodologies were used to conduct this review, including an extensive review of the literature, engagement of key informants in dental academic leadership positions around the world, and review of current data from a variety of national and international organizations. Results provide evidence of gender inequalities that currently persist in dental academics and research. Although the gender gap among graduating dental students in North America and the two most populous countries in Europe (the United Kingdom and France) has been narrowed, women make up 30% to 40% of registered dentists in countries throughout Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Africa. In academic dentistry around the globe, greater gender inequality was found to correlate with higher ranking academic and leadership positions in the United States, United Kingdom, several countries in European Union, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Further disparities are noted in the dental research sector, where women make up 33% of dental researchers in the European Union, 35% in North America, 55% in Brazil, and 25% in Japan. Family and societal pressures, limited access to research funding, and lack of mentoring and leadership training opportunities are reported as also contributing to gender inequalities. To continue advancing gender equality in dental academia and research, efforts should be geared toward the collection and public dissemination of data on gender-specific distributions. Such evidence-driven information will guide the selection of future strategies and best practices for promoting gender equity in the dental workforce, which provides a major pipeline of researchers and scholars for the dental profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed adherence to five transparency practices-data sharing, code sharing, conflict of interest disclosure, funding disclosure, and protocol registration-in articles in dental journals. We searched and exported the full text of all research articles from PubMed-indexed dental journals available in the Europe PubMed Central database until the end of 2021. We programmatically assessed their adherence to the five transparency practices using a validated and automated tool. Journal- and article-related information was retrieved from ScimagoJR and Journal Citation Reports. Of all 329,784 articles published in PubMed-indexed dental journals, 10,659 (3.2%) were available to download. Of those, 77% included a conflict of interest disclosure, and 62% included a funding disclosure. Seven percent of the articles had a registered protocol. Data sharing (2.0%) and code sharing (0.1%) were rarer. Sixteen percent of articles did not adhere to any of the five transparency practices, 29% adhered to one, 48% adhered to two, 7.0% adhered to three, 0.3% adhered to four, and no article adhered to all five practices. Adherence to transparency practices increased over time; however, data and code sharing especially remained rare. Coordinated efforts involving all stakeholders are needed to change current transparency practices in dental research., (© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Oral Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Scandinavian Division of the International Association for Dental Research.)

Data on health literacy (HL) in the population is limited for Asian countries. This study aimed to test the validity of the Mandarin version of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q) for use in the general public in Taiwan. Multistage stratification random sampling resulted in a sample of 2989 people aged 15 years and above. The HLS-EU-Q was validated by confirmatory factor analysis with excellent model data fit indices. The general HL of the Taiwanese population was 34.4 ± 6.6 on a scale of 50. Multivariate regression analysis showed that higher general HL is significantly associated with the higher ability to pay for medication, higher self-perceived social status, higher frequency of watching health-related TV, and community involvement but associated with younger age. HL is also associated with health status, health behaviors, and health care accessibility and use. The HLS-EU-Q was found to be a useful tool to assess HL and its associated factors in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the FAIR principles, data produced by scientific research should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable-for instance, to be used in machine learning algorithms. However, to date, there is no estimate of the quantity or quality of dental research data evaluated via the FAIR principles. We aimed to determine the availability of open data in dental research and to assess compliance with the FAIR principles (or FAIRness) of shared dental research data. We downloaded all available articles published in PubMed-indexed dental journals from 2016 to 2021 as open access from Europe PubMed Central. In addition, we took a random sample of 500 dental articles that were not open access through Europe PubMed Central. We assessed data sharing in the articles and compliance of shared data to the FAIR principles programmatically. Results showed that of 7,509 investigated articles, 112 (1.5%) shared data. The average (SD) level of compliance with the FAIR metrics was 32.6% (31.9%). The average for each metric was as follows: findability, 3.4 (2.7) of 7; accessibility, 1.0 (1.0) of 3; interoperability, 1.1 (1.2) of 4; and reusability, 2.4 (2.6) of 10. No considerable changes in data sharing or quality of shared data occurred over the years. Our findings indicated that dental researchers rarely shared data, and when they did share, the FAIR quality was suboptimal. Machine learning algorithms could understand 1% of available dental research data. These undermine the reproducibility of dental research and hinder gaining the knowledge that can be gleaned from machine learning algorithms and applications.

Objective: The use of phrases such as "data/results not shown" is deemed an obscure way to represent scientific findings. Our aim was to investigate how frequently papers published in dental journals use the phrases and what kind of results the authors referred to with these phrases in 2021., Methods: We searched the Europe PubMed Central (PMC) database for open-access articles available from studies published in PubMed-indexed dental journals until December 31st, 2021. We searched for "data/results not shown" phrases from the full texts and then calculated the proportion of articles with the phrases in all the available articles. From studies published in 2021, we evaluated whether the phrases referred to confirmatory results, negative results, peripheral results, sensitivity analysis results, future results, or other/unclear results. Journal- and publisher-related differences in publishing studies with the phrases in 2021 were tested with Fisher's exact test using the R v4.1.1 software., Results: The percentage of studies with the relevant phrases from the total number of studies in the database decreased from 13% to 3% between 2010 and 2020. In 2021, out of 2,434 studies published in 73 different journals by eight publishers, 67 (2.8%) used the phrases. Potential journal- and publisher-related differences in publishing studies with the phrases were detected in 2021 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). Most commonly, the phrases referred to negative (n = 16, 24%), peripheral (n = 22, 33%) or confirmatory (n = 11, 16%) results. The significance of unpublished results to which the phrases referred considerably varied across studies., Conclusion: Over the last decade, there has been a marked decrease in the use of the phrases "data/results not shown" in dental journals. However, the phrases were still notably in use in dental studies in 2021, despite the good availability of accessible free online supplements and repositories., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

An introduction is presented which discusses several reports within the issue on topics including processes involved in nutritional cooperation and cell-to-cell signaling; oral papillomaviruses and their transmission modes; and change from isotropic materials to body-onframe designs.

The article presents a note on the activities of the European Society for Oral Laser Applications (ESOLA) and its achievements in the year 2002. It is informed that the year 2002 has been a successful year for ESOLA as the number of participants in laser meetings organized by it has increased. Large scale events were organized all over Europe to indicate that the use of lasers in dentistry is safe and it's an established method of treatment. Another achievement for ESOLA was the first congress of the Italian Society of Laser Dentistry--SILO. The event featured collegial discussions and interesting presentations of the latest research results related to laser dentistry.

Objectives: For more than twenty years, dental practice-based research networks (D-PBRN) have helped to structure clinical research in private practice. They bring together practitioners working in several structures and may include a greater number of subjects. The aims of this study were thus to systematically explore the scientific production from dental private practices in general and to map and describe the D-PBRN activity worldwide., Data Sources: Two research procedures were carried out in parallel. The first was conducted as a scoping review to examine peer-reviewed literature indexed in the PubMed database and the second was performed on the World Wide Web to identify the main characteristics of the networks (location, scientific production…)., Study Selection: 368 publications were identified among which 202 were published by PBRN members and the others by private practitioners not affiliated to any network. 210 (57 % of the included articles) were produced in the USA. A higher number of diverse centers are involved in each study when it is conducted by a PBRN (59.06 ± 66.59 vs. 13.51 ± 31.58 for networks and independent teams, respectively; p < 0.01). 24 D-PBRN were identified, a majority being based in the USA and 8 in Europe., Conclusions: Although dental practice-based research has grown over the years, the number of D-PBRN worldwide remains low. Even if it requires some investment to produce research in dental offices, this type of networks helps to fill the gap between private practice and research and to improve knowledge on oral health., Relevance: The mapping of all the dental PBRN together with the research topics studied throughout the world make the relevance of this article. The ways to improve practice-based research in dentistry are also discussed in the paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Following early limitations on women becoming educated in and practicing dentistry, the proportion of women enrolled in dental schools around the world has increased dramatically over the past decades. Dental schools have undergone a transformation from male dominance to almost equal numbers in the United States and female predominance in other countries including the United Kingdom. However, this change in student gender distribution has not been matched among academic leaders. Data from across the globe indicate a clear disproportion in favor of males in leadership positions in dentistry-and the more senior the position, the greater the imbalance. This article reviews the evolving changes in gender distribution across the landscape of dental education, research, and practice and some initiatives to address the gender imbalance in leadership. Such initiatives can help to ensure that, in the future, the profession benefits from the spectrum of influences brought to bear by the leadership of both women and men.

The article discusses the issue on the prevention of dental caries among children under seven-years old which were taken into closer look by the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) through various approaches and dental research. It cites the increasing risk of rampant caries in infants despite of great strides in dental research which paves to further treatment under general anaesthetics. An approach to control intra-oral mutants streptococci using liquorice lollipops is also cited.

The article contemplates the growth of the journal as manifested in the decision of the Association of Dental Education in Europe and the Publishers to augment the number of printed pages per issue. Likewise, educational research work for publication can now be submitted online to enhance efficiency. The author stressed that move will result to shorter publication time.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to describe the demographics of abstracts presented at the prosthodontics section of IADR General Sessions from 2004 to 2005, evaluate the publication rate of abstracts, and analyze the relationship between variables in abstracts and publication., Materials and Methods: Prosthodontics research section abstracts from the IADR General Session in 2004 and 2005 were evaluated for: number of authors, presentation type, origin, affiliation, topic, study design, statistics, study outcome, and funding. The publication rate was calculated following a PubMed search. The journal of publication, year of publication, and the length of time before publication were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis; the relationships between presentation type, study design, study outcome, statistics, funding, and publication were analyzed using logistic regression (α= 0.05)., Results: From 346 abstracts, 37.0% were published. For oral presentations, 40.7% were published; 35.8% of poster presentations were published. The mean duration before publication was 26.4 months. North America had the most abstracts, and Europe had the most publications. Fixed prosthodontic research had the highest number and proportion for publication. A significant association with publication was noted for neutral study outcomes (p= 0.018), studies with funding (p= 0.035), and abstracts from Europe (p= 0.001)., Conclusions: The majority of abstracts from the prosthodontics research section of IADR General Sessions from 2004 and 2005 remain unpublished. A significant association for publication was noted with neutral outcomes, funding, and abstracts from Europe., (© 2011 by the American College of Prosthodontists.)

Little systematic information has been collected about the nature and types of studies published in dental education journals. The goals of this study were to conduct a content analysis of articles published in dental education journals in two recent years, describe the type of research published, identify possible gaps, and propose future agendas. A content analysis of articles published in two leading dental education journals was performed for the years 2003 and 2008 with 253 articles reviewed. Most articles were descriptive and observational in nature. Curriculum was the most common topic of study addressed. The mean number of authors per article increased slightly over time, and authors held mostly a combination of D.D.S. and M.S. degrees or Ph.D. degrees. A review of the literature was present and critically discussed in almost three-quarters of the articles studied. One-third of the articles mentioned ethics review or approval. Most of the studies were conducted in North America, followed by Europe. About one-third of the articles reported a source of funding. A plea is made for more systematic studies of the effectiveness of instructional and curricular innovations and more clarification studies to better understand why certain initiatives or interventions work or not.

Continuing dental education is now a professional and ethical obligation. The practising dentist has the responsibility to be a continuous learner by participating in educational programmes. This requirement for a career long education system provides awareness to the public that the dental profession is dedicated to the maintenance of high evidence-based education and permanent research into the best quality standards. Numerous European countries are involved in this process in an attempt to harmonise basic guidelines.

Background: Interpretation of risk for periodontitis is critical for treatment planning. How periodontists assess risk for periodontitis is unclear., Purpose: To study (1) what factors periodontists use when assessing the risks for worsening periodontal conditions anticipating that no treatment would be provided, and (2) if risk assessment is consistent and independent of specialty background training., Material and Methods: Medical history, clinical dental data, full-mouth intra-oral radiographs, and slide pictures were obtained from each of 51 subjects, and the information was provided to 23 examiners., Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 51.5 years (SD +/- 17.7, range 23-81), with 28 women included. In 10 of the subjects, only gingivitis was identified, while 22 subjects had advanced chronic periodontitis. Risk scores assigned for 2 and 4 years differed significantly between European- and US-trained periodontists (p < 0.001) and between graduate students in training and periodontists from either the US or Europe (p < 0.01) (Wilcoxon n-pair test), with European periodontists scoring the lowest risks. Risk scores were correlated between groups (p < 0.01 with rho range 0.82-0.89) (Spearman's rank correlation). The best-fit model (r2 = 0.86) to assess perceived risk for worsening periodontal conditions based on data from all examiners combined included the following variables: (1) overall horizontal alveolar bone loss (p < 0.000), (2) age-adjusted proportional radiographic bone height score for the worst site (p < 0.000), and (3) proportion of pocket probing depths > or = 6.0 mm., Conclusions: Differences exist on the scale of risk values based on specialty training. Consistency in scoring patterns exists. The examiners based their assigned risk scores almost exclusively on measures of existing disease severity, including radiographic bone loss and numbers of periodontal pockets > or = 6.0 mm, and excluding most known risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, and poor oral hygiene.

Introduction: The original Eurocleft project, a European intercentre comparison study, revealed dramatic differences in outcome, which were a powerful stimulus for improvement in the services of respective teams. The study developed a preliminary methodology to compare practices and the potential for wider European collaboration including opportunities for the promotion of clinical trials and intercentre comparison was recognized by the European Commission. Therefore, the project: 'Standards of Care for Cleft Lip and Palate in Europe: Eurocleft' ran between 1996 and 2000 and aimed to promote a broad uplift in the quality of care and research in the area of cleft lip and palate., Results: The results of the 1996-2000 project include: a register of services in Europe, with details of professionals and teams involved in cleft care, service organization, clinical protocols and special facilities for research; a set of common Policy Statements governing clinical practice for European cleft teams, Practice Guidelines describing minimum recommendations for care that all European children with clefts should be entitled to and recommendations for Documentation governing minimum records that cleft teams should maintain; encouraging initial efforts to compare outcomes (results) of care between centres. A survey showed a wide diversity in models of care and national policies as well as clinical practices in Europe. Of the 201 centres that registered with the network, the survey showed 194 different protocols being followed for only unilateral clefts., Conclusion: Cleft services, treatment and research have undoubtedly suffered from haphazard development across Europe. Attainment of even minimum standards of care remains a major challenge in some communities and both the will to reform and a basic strategy to follow are overdue. It is hoped that the Eurocleft Consensus Recommendations reached during the present project will assist in improving the opportunities for tomorrow's patients. It is also hoped that the collaborative research now beginning under the European Commission's Framework V Programme will provide a focus for European researchers wishing to improve understanding, treatment and prevention of clefts of the lip, alveolus and palate in the years ahead.