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Background and aims. On March 16, 2020, the state of emergency was established with drastic measures of isolation and quarantine. Among the measures taken in the context of the state of emergency was the closure of dental offices throughout the country. The aim of our questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was to identify the psycho-affective implications of the Romanian citizens induced by the COVID-19 pandemic period as well as their opinion related to the self-perceived oral health status during this period. Methods. An original questionnaire was designed consisting of 41 questions, which were distributed to the general population via the Internet. The first part of the questionnaire investigated the respondents' opinion regarding the impact of this COVID-19 pandemic period of isolation on their oral health and the attention paid by the subjects to oral hygiene during restrictions. The second part refers to their addressability to the dental services during this pandemic and the third part interrogates different characteristics, namely the presence of comorbidities, possible anxiety, and stress. Results. A total of 769 participants answered the questionnaire online. Conclusion. According to their responses most of the respondents were not afraid of the possibility of contracting Sars-Cov-2 during dental treatments, but were in certain periods deprived of accessing dental services due to lockdown restrictions. They are aware of their oral health problems and pay more attention to oral hygiene so that they do not get worse during restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives. The aim of the study was to identify in the literature the potential causes of overtreatment in dentistry, the most frequent types of overtreatments and recommendations of how to avoid those issues. Materials and methods. A literature search was carried out in the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science and Science-Direct databases. The search used following keywords: “overtreatment” and “dentistry” for papers published in English until June 2022. Results. 211 results were found in PubMed, 122 in Web of Science and 523 in ScienceDirect. The duplicates, the titles and the abstracts that were not related to the reviewed topic and the papers not available in full text were excluded. 27 papers were selected and included in this study. From the 27 papers selected 7 were Clinical research, 7 questionnaire-based studies, 5 case reports, 8 review articles. Conclusions: Most of the analyzed overtreatments in the literature were unintentionally performed except for those related to the financial gain and business development. The research revealed that the overtreatments or overdiagnosis were in general due directly or indirectly to the lake of knowledge of the practitioner. It is important to know and to identify the causes of possible overtreatments as early as possible and acting ethically to achieve good results in avoiding them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the comparative testing of the antimicrobial efficacy of 2 experimental photosensitizers (PS-H; PS-T) based on natural compounds with a commercial one based on toluidine blue O (TBO) FotoSan® was performed, by antimicrobial tests with G- and G+ bacterial strains and through SEM microscopy on dental enamel, using LED phototherapy. For the formulation of the experimental natural photosensitizers we used Frankincense (T) and Thieves (H) essential oils (EO), used as photosensitizing agents in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in the control of the microbial biofilm of the oral cavity. We also tested the composition of experimental photosensitizers by GC-MS chromatography. Our results suggest that EO should be further investigated as a promising source of natural compounds that can be used to combat bacterial strains. Essential oils can inhibit growth of a broad range of pathogens correlating to their presence in aromatic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims. “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2) is the name of the etiological agent of the pandemic Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) which was declared on March 11, 2020 by the WHO and which affected all countries of the world, including Romania. Our study aimed to evaluate the psycho-affective implications and economic consequences for dentists in Romania during the COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease) pandemic state of emergency and their opinion on the patients’ oral health impact. Methods. A cross-sectional observational and analytical study based on a questionnaire was conducted. Dentists who work in Romania affiliated in 2020 to the Romanian College of Dental Practitioners was the target population. Results. Three hundred and seventy-three dentists participated in this survey. The age of the respondents ranged from 24 to 70. Men and women have the same expectation regarding the lockdown effect of worsening the oral health of the general population (worst, 79.5% of women and 81.3% of men, P=0.8842). Conclusions. The anxiety regarding the bank rates, supplementary investments, risk of COVID-19 infection and exposure to COVID-19 related mass-media information proved to be significantly higher among young dentists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To investigate the factors involved in the failure of a fixed prosthetic restoration (FPR) at the time of their removal in 2009-2010. Patients and methods. 3 dentists in 2 dental clinics examined the 40 patients during 6 months who asked for dental care due to failure of a FPR within 6 months. Dentists took part in a study for pre-calibration on 5 patients, assessing the occlusions and the periodontal modifications depth. Both dentists and patients answered a pre-validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistic analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed. Results. The most frequent failure causes were periodontal pockets deeper than 6 mm in the abutments associated with at least I/II mobility in 11 subjects (27.5%), associated in most cases with faulty design and execution of the treatment plan in 6 patients (15%), and with occlusal parafunctions in the area of FPR in 8 patients (20%). Conclusions. The association of short life-span of FPR with not coming to the regular check-ups suggests that the patients must be motivated to comply to the followup visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To identify by ultrasonography (DermaScan C, Cortex Technology1) the reference points necessary to monitor the horizontal bone resorbtion and to assess the accuracy of the measurements by comparing with Cone Beam Computed Tomography images, having direct microscopic section measurements as a gold standard. Material and Methods: We performed the examinations on the lingual side of the alveolar bone of 4 pig mandibles. We tried to identify the enamel-cementum junction, the root, the periodontal space at the appearance of the tooth from the alveolar bone, the edge of cortical bone at its coronary limit (in order to assess the horizontal bone resorption). We measured the distance between the enamel-cementum junction and the coronal edge of cortical bone. Results: There was a strong positive correlation between the alveolar bone level measured with the 3 techniques. Correlation parametric R2 tests were statistically significant for DermaScan measurements compared to microscopy ones (p<0.0001). Linear regression showed statistically significant correlations for alveolar bone level measurements made by CBCT compared to microscopy (p<0.05). Conclusions: The cementum-enamel junction may be identified on ultrasonic images with high accuracy according to the tooth anatomical convexities, therefore this method can be used for monitoring the periodontium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims. To investigate causes of failure of fixed prosthetic restorations (FPR) at the time of their removal în 2009-2010. Patients and Methods. In 2009 - 2010, this retrospective survey was performed by the pre-calibrated dentists in 10 randomly selected dental clinics from Cluj- Napoca, Romania, examined the 145 de patients who asked for dental care because of failure of a FPR done in the previous 8 years. The dentists assessed the O'Leary Plaque Index and answered a pre-validated questionnaire (by a pilot study) on failure causes of FPR. The patients answered 6 questions regarding the socio-economic status, oral hygiene information they received at the end of the prosthetic treatment, daily habits of oral hygiene, number and reasons for dental check-ups. Descriptive statistic analysis and multivariate logistic regression were employed. Results. The most frequent failure causes were periodontal pockets deeper than 6 mm in the abutments associated with mobility at 39 subjects (26.9%), dental caries for 23 de patients (15.86%) and esthetic failure in 28 cases (24.83%). 108 subjects (74.48%) stated they have never received informaţion regarding interdental cleaning aids (ICAs) for the hygiene procedures of their FPR. Less than 10% (only 12 patients) went for regular check-ups. Only 19 patients (13.1%) used ICAs daily and there was a statistically significant influence of this frequency of use on the failure causes related to dental pla-que. Conclusions. Patients wearing FPR should be informed and motivated for using daily ICAs, but also towards self-care and self-diagnosis and towards asking regular check-ups and professional cleanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims. The use of sugar by dental plaque microorganisms leads to acid formation from the bacteria metabolism, which determines a decrease of pH onto teeth surfaces. The value of the critical pH is 5.2-5.5. We aimed to evaluate the capacity of patients to change their diet towards caries prevention after acknowledging the values of saliva parameters (pH, buffer capacity). Material and methods. A group of 52 subjects were clinically examined according to the International Caries Assessment and Detection System protocol. They were required to complete a diet questionnaire and salivary tests were made for the oral mucosa hydration level, pH, buffer capacity, salivary flow rate at rest and upon stimulation. 4 pre-calibrated 6th year students and 2 dentists performed the tests and the ICDAS examination. One week after the tests, the subjects were asked to complete the diet questionnaire again. The studied group consisted of students aged between 23-26 years, randomly selected among 6th year students of the Faculty of Dentistry from Cluj-Napoca. Results and Discussion. The mean DMF-S index was 18.39. Most of the patients (65%) had a DMF-S index between 9 and 21. Just 2.5% had an index of 3, which was the lowest value recorded. 5% of the patients had a DMFS of 35, which was the maximal value recorded. The distribution of DMF-S was normal. 50% of the patients had no active caries. Even though most subjects (19.23%) had a pH within the normal interval, most of them were at the bottom value of the interval (6.8). Most subjects had a pH of 6.4, which is moderately acid. The mean pH was 6.7, therefore, a moderately acid one. The Pearson correlation coefficient between DMFS and pH was 0.255. A mild negative correlation (-0.275) was found between the cariogenic food and buffer capacity. A week later we noticed a statistically significant decrease of cariogenic foods and drinks in students with acid pH and with low buffer capacity. Conclusions. A regular intake of cakes, bonbons and chocolate was reported by subjects who had a high DMF-S value and a low saliva buffer capacity. Only after the patients were aware of their caries risk, did they change their diet towards a non-cariogenic one, even though they had had the theoretical knowledge regarding caries prevention for at least 3 years. We conclude that the use of the chair-side salivary test should be highly recommended for cario-receptive patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The main objective of the study was the realisation of an experimental model and evaluation to establish whether the high frequency ultrasound method can supply credible information concerning the structure of the periodontal tissues., Materials and Methods: We used a 20 MHz, 2D transducer of Dermascan C (CORTEX TECHNOLOGY l) device for examining 20 teeth on 4 healthy pig mandibles. The examination was made in the lateral area of alveolar bones at the lingual surface., Results: On the images obtained through this type of ultrasonography we identified the cortical bone, tooth crown, tooth root and fixed mucosa. On the images obtained with Dermascan C ver. 3.0 software, very accurate measurements of periodontal space width (mean= 0.45 mm, Std. Dev=0.078) and thickness of cortical bone (mean= 0.31 mm, Std. Dev=0.134) and fixed mucosa (mean= 0.91 mm, Std. Dev=0.176) were made., Conclusions: Considering the non-invasive nature of the ultrasound method for patients and for medical staff during examination, but also considering the advantages generated by the possibility of making exact measurements of different areas, this method could become a reliable alternative for X-ray examinations in patients with periodontal disease. If a miniaturized transducer would be available, it could be used for ultrasound periodontal assessment in humans.