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Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of nonpharmocological behavior guidance interventions used for children undergoing dental treatment visits. Methods: Databases: Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), Embase, and Cochrane Library, were searched from 1946 to February 2022, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing effectiveness of basic and advanced nonpharmocological techniques rendered during a dental . treatment visit including sealants, restorative core, dental local anesthesia, and simple surgical procedures. The primary outcome measures were reduction in anxiety, fear, pain, and improvement in cooperative behavior. Eight authors determined the included RCTs, performed data extraction, and assessed the risk of bios (ROB). Standardized Mean Difference calculation and assignment of quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach were done. Results: Forty articles qualified for analysis from 219 screened articles. Included studies evaluated the effectiveness of pre-visit preparation and in office strategies rendered pre-/post- or during treatment such as positive imagery, direct observation/modeling, desensitization, tell-show-do and its modifications, voice control, positive reinforcement, memory restructuring, bio-feedback and breathing relaxation, animal assisted therapy, combined therapies, and cognitive behavior therapy. The certainty of evidence ranged from Very low to high and the magnitude of effect varied from trivial to large change in the desired outcomes. Conclusions: Most of the basic non-pharmacological behavior guidance techniques showed trivial to small reduction in self-reported anxiety and/or improvement in behavior, with modeling, positive reinforcement, biofeedback relaxation, breathing relaxation, animal assisted therapy, combined tell-show-do and audiovisual distraction, and cognitive behavior therapy showing large effects in reduction of anxiety based on some scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The biochemical approach of dental age using aspartic acid racemization has been widely reported. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the reliability and accuracy of dental age estimation using aspartic acid racemization rate analysis. Design: Eight research databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane, MEDLINE, TRIP, Web of Science, and Scopus) were utilised to gather and assess published literatures in compliance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and reported in PROSPERO (CRD42020208877). This systematic review and meta-analysis focused solely on cross-sectional studies. The quality evaluation was performed using the GRADE system. The standardized mean difference between estimated and chronological age was meta-analyzed using the random effects model. Result: The literature review yielded 213 studies, of which 26 were considered acceptable for inclusion in this report. Out of 26 studies, 19 presented sufficient evidence for meta-analysis and the remaining 7 were used to construct a qualitative review. According to the meta-analysis, premolar-related studies had the least variability (Tau2 = 0.23; I2 = 72%) among other tooth groups. Conclusion: A substantial degree of heterogeneity was found in every type of tooth. Only the premolar teeth had lower degree variability; thus, it is safe to believe that the premolar tooth is the best for this type of age estimation. It is recommended to develop population-specific mathematical equations to improve the accuracy of this age estimation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow decline disease caused by Tylenchulus semipenetrans is a major threat to global citrus production. Identification of suitable bio-agents that can be applied through a drip irrigation system by growers becomes inevitable for successful citrus production. Hence, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of different liquid bio-inoculants, such as Bacillus subtilis, Purpureocillium lilacinum, and Trichoderma viride delivered through drip irrigation system on acid lime trees naturally infected with T. semipenetrans. They were applied at 4 L/ha, and their effect was compared with that of the spot application of carbofuran 3G at 100 g per tree. All tested bio-inoculants substantially suppressed the population density of T. semipenetrans in soil and acid lime roots. Among the bio-inoculants, P. lilacinum with 54.9–74.4% and 53.4–74.3% reductions in population in soil and root, respectively, performed best, followed by B. subtilis and T. viride. The effect of P. lilacinum was comparable to that of the chemical standard check carbofuran in location I, but P. lilacinum surpassed carbofuran in location II. Survival in soil and colonization on acid lime roots by P. lilacinum was higher than by B. subtilis and T. viride. The egg mass parasitization by P. lilacinum was also 7.1–7.5 times higher than by T. viride. The suppression of T. semipenetrans by P. lilacinum led to an increase in the number of fruits (19.0–23.3%), fruit weight (20.2–22.3%), and fruit yield (35.4–40.3%) in acid lime trees. The cost–benefit ratio by P. lilacinum was also higher (1: 2.6–1: 3.0), whereas it was lower in carbofuran treatment (1: 2.3—1: 2.4). It is concluded that the delivery of liquid P. lilacinum at 4 L/ha through a drip irrigation system was highly effective and economical for the management of acid lime trees infected with T. semipenetrans under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation is vital for both clinical and forensic reasons. An eight-tooth method was developed by Chaillet and Demirjian to estimate dental age of children and adolescents. The aim of the current study was to investigate the applicability of Chaillet and Demirjian's scores for the Malaysian Chinese aged 5–18 years. A total of 1228 dental panoramic tomographs were examined. The difference between Chronological Age (CA) and the Dental Age (DA) calculated using the Chaillet and Demirjian's dental maturity scores was compared using the paired t-test. The DA was generally underestimated. The average difference between CA and DA ranged from +1.55 to +2.34 years for boys and +2.18 to +4.10 years for girls. Consequently, CA and DA did not have acceptable correspondence. Therefore, a prediction model from Demirjian's scores was established using an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) computational approach to develop new dental maturity scores. The new scores showed a more accurate estimation of age and the difference between CA and DA was −0.05 ± 0.92 years for boys and −0.06 ± 1.11 years for girls. Moreover, the differences were statistically not significant. The new dental maturity scores could therefore be used to estimate the age of Malaysian Chinese children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Development of human dentition has been used as a predictor for evaluating the growth and maturity of an individual. It is fairly identical in a specific population, but the effect of development on subjects with dental anomalies had not been fully explored, particularly on subjects with supernumerary teeth (ST). This study hence aims to evaluate the dental development of children with and without ST. Materials and methods: Sample size calculation was conducted and 320 radiographs of subjects with and without supernumerary teeth (ST) were obtained from the archives of a teaching hospital. The subjects in both groups were age and sex matched. All the subjects belong to southern Chinese ethnicity aged 2 to 14 years. The left-side dentition was scored, and dental age (DA) was estimated by obtaining scores from the southern Chinese dental reference dataset. Paired t test was used to calculate the difference between chronological age and dental age (CA-DA) for boys and girls with and without ST and further based on the number and position of ST. Results: The difference between chronological age and dental age (CA-DA) was 0.10 years for boys and 0.19 years for girls with ST whilst 0.01 and 0.05 years for boys and girls without ST (p > 0.05). The boys with bilateral ST showed significant delay in dental development of 0.23 years (p < 0.05). Position of the ST did not have any influence on dental age. Conclusions: No significant difference was observed in the dental development of children with and without supernumerary teeth. Clinical relevance: Understanding dental development of children with supernumerary teeth may be useful in appropriate treatment planning of such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding dental maturation in ethnically distinct populations is important in forensic age estimations and the presence of population differences in dental maturation was highly debated. No such comparison had been performed between two major populations; Caucasian and Chinese. This study aims to analyze and compare the maturation of permanent teeth from a sample of Caucasian and Chinese populations. Dental panoramic radiographs of subjects aged 2-24years belonging to United Kingdom (UK) Caucasian and Hong Kong (HK) Chinese populations were obtained from a teaching hospital. The teeth were scored and reference datasets were developed separately for males and females. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05 and independent sample t-test was conducted between the average ages at assessment for each stage of development for all the teeth in both groups. The HK Chinese were dentally advanced than the UK Caucasians by an average of 5 months, however, reverse trend was observed in third molars (p<0.05). These findings must be considered whilst utilising population specific reference dataset for dental age estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Reduction of microbial load from the root canal systems is a pre-requisite for healing of lesions of endodontic origin. Such microbial reduction is influenced by the method of irrigant delivery and activation. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the effect of ultrasonically activated irrigation (UAI) with other irrigation techniques on the reduction of microorganisms during root canal disinfection.Materials and methods: The research question was created based on the PICO strategy. Two reviewers independently performed a comprehensive literature search in electronic databases. Following application of inclusion and exclusion criteria to the selected articles, a systematic data extraction sheet was constructed. The selected articles were assessed using methodological quality scoring protocol. The risk of bias in selected studies was critically assessed by two reviewers.Results: A total of 15 articles were included for the systematic review. The included studies were heterogeneous in study design; hence, meta-analysis was not performed. The overall risk of bias for the selected studies was moderate. Overall, UAI showed superior reduction of microbial counts, resulting in better disinfection compared to other irrigation systems chosen for comparison in this review.Conclusion: The use of UAI can bring about superior microbial reduction within the root canal system compared to other irrigant activation techniques.Clinical relevance: Activation of irrigants with ultrasonic brings about significant bacterial reduction from the root canal systems compared to other methods of irrigant activation and conventional syringe irrigation. This might help in improving the outcome of root canal treatment. [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]

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of nonpharmacological behavior guidance interventions used for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) during preventive and dental treatment visits. Methods: Databases: Ovid MEDLINE, PsyclNFO (EBSCOhost), Embase, and Cochrane Library, were searched from 1946 to February 2022, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing effectiveness of basic and advanced nonpharmacological techniques rendered during a preventive visit (exam, fluoride application, radiographs, and prophylaxis) or a treatment visit (simple surgical treatment, sealants, restorative care with or with local anesthesia) with control or other interventions. The primary outcome measures for the studied interventions were reduction in anxiety, fear, pain, and improvement in cooperative behavior. Eight authors determined the included Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), performed data extraction, and assessed the risk of bias (ROB). Standardized Mean Difference calculation and assignment of quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach were done. Results: Eleven articles qualified for analysis from 219 screened articles. Included studies evaluate the effectiveness of in office strategies such as modeling, audio-visual distraction, sensory adapted dental environment, and picture exchange communication system. The certainty of evidence ranged from Very low to Low and the magnitude of effect varied from trivial to large change in the desired outcomes. Conclusions: Most basic non-pharmacological behavior guidance techniques showed some trivial to small reduction in self-reported anxiety and/ or improvement in behavior, with audiovisual distraction, Sensory Adopted Dental Environment, and Picture Exchange Communication System showing large reduction in anxiety based on some rating scales. [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 evaluate and compare the long-term clinical retention and gingival health of prefabricated zirconia crowns (PZCs) in primary molar teeth cemented using three luting cements. Methods: Primary molar teeth restored with PZCs (n equals 30 per group) were cemented using glass ionomer cement (GIC), resin-modified GIC (BioCem™), or adhesive resin cement (APC technique: air-particle abrasion, zirconia primer, composite resin). Crown retention, plaque accumulation, and gingival status were evaluated over three years; cumulative crown survival was assessed using Kalpan-Meier analysis. Plaque gingival scores were analyzed for within and between groups using repeated measures one-way analysis of variance. Results: The survival of PZCs cemented using GIC was 76.7 percent, 70 percent for APC, and 50 percent for BioCem™ after three years. The mean survival for PZC in the GIC group (35.5 months) was significantly higher than for APC (34.7 months), and BioCem™ (33 months; P=0.019). Plaque accumulation around GIC-luted crowns was significantly lower (P<0.001; three-year follow-up); gingival outcomes were uniformly favorable between groups. No crown fracture was observed throughout the study period. Conclusions: Prefabricated zirconia crowns cemented using traditional glass ionomer cement have superior retention and lower plaque accumulation compared to BioCem™ and APC after three years. PZCs provided long-term favorable gingival health outcomes irrespective of the cement used for luting the crowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objectives This investigation aimed to evaluate the secular trend exhibited by developing permanent teeth in 5 to 6 years old southern Chinese children. Methods Four hundred radiographs of children born in the years 1981 ( n=200) and 2001 ( n=200) were randomly selected, and then age and gender matched. Maxillary and mandibular teeth on the left side were scored. The number of tooth developmental stages (n-tds) for each stage of development and total n-tds in crown and root development was calculated. Logistic regression, X2 test for occurrence of trend and Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate the variations in n-tds between crown and root maturation and also maturation among different teeth. Dental maturation between boys and girls was also compared. Results In the maxillary dentition, children born in 2001 showed advanced dental maturation (odds ratio, 1.29; P=0.001), and girls exhibited earlier maturation than boys (odds ratio, 1.43; P=0.001). In the mandibular dentition, no significant difference between the years was observed (odds ratio, 0.97; P=0.761), however, girls showed accelerated development than boys (odds ratio, 1.26; P=0.002). Variations in maturation were also observed between individual tooth in the same arch and between the arches. Conclusions Children born in 2001 demonstrated accelerated dental development only in the maxillary dentition. Girls born in 1981 and 2001 exhibited advanced maturation than boys. Variations in development among different teeth in the year groups indicate the need for inclusion of all developing teeth to establish a secular change. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 25:329-334, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dental age assessment is one the most accurate methods for estimating the age of an unknown person. Demirjian''s dataset on a French-Canadian population has been widely tested for its applicability on various ethnic groups including southern Chinese. Following inaccurate results from these studies, investigators are now confronted with using alternate datasets for comparison. Testing the applicability of other reliable datasets which result in accurate findings might limit the need to develop population specific standards. Recently, a Reference Data Set (RDS) similar to the Demirjian was prepared in the United Kingdom (UK) and has been subsequently validated. The advantages of the UK Caucasian RDS includes versatility from including both the maxillary and mandibular dentitions, involvement of a wide age group of subjects for evaluation and the possibility of precise age estimation with the mathematical technique of meta-analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the United Kingdom Caucasian RDS on southern Chinese subjects. Dental panoramic tomographs (DPT) of 266 subjects (133 males and 133 females) aged 2–21 years that were previously taken for clinical diagnostic purposes were selected and scored by a single calibrated examiner based on Demirjian''s classification of tooth developmental stages (A–H). The ages corresponding to each stage of tooth developmental stage were obtained from the UK dataset. Intra-examiner reproducibility was tested and the Cohen kappa (0.88) showed that the level of agreement was ‘almost perfect’. The estimated dental age was then compared with the chronological age using a paired t-test, with statistical significance set at p <0.01. The results showed that the UK dataset, underestimated the age of southern Chinese subjects by 0.24 years but the results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the UK Caucasian RDS may not be suitable for estimating the age of southern Chinese subjects and there is a need for an ethnic specific reference dataset for southern Chinese. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Is Demirjian's original method really useful for age estimation in a forensic context?" in the September 27, 2016 issue.

This manuscript presents a new two-step weighted Newton's algorithm with convergence order five for approximating solutions of system of nonlinear equations. This algorithm needs evaluation of two vector functions and two Frechet derivatives per iteration. Furthermore, it is improved into a general multi-step algorithm with one more vector function evaluation per step, with convergence order 3 k + 5 , k ≥ 1 . Error analysis providing order of convergence of the algorithms and their computational efficiency are discussed based on the computational cost. Numerical implementation through some test problems are included, and comparison with well-known equivalent algorithms are presented. To verify the applicability of the proposed algorithms, we have implemented them on 1-D and 2-D Bratu problems. The presented algorithms perform better than many existing algorithms and are equivalent to a few available algorithms. [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]

Observational studies play a critical role in evaluating the prevalence and incidence of conditions or diseases in populations as well as in defining the benefits and potential hazards of health‐related interventions. There are currently no reporting guidelines for observational studies in the field of Endodontics. The Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology (PRIDE) team has developed and published new reporting guidelines for observational‐based studies called the 'Preferred Reporting items for OBservational studies in Endodontics (PROBE) 2023' guidelines. The PROBE 2023 guidelines were developed exclusively for the speciality of Endodontics by integrating and adapting the 'STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE)' checklist and the 'Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications (CLIP)' principles. The recommendations of the Guidance for Developers of Health Research Reporting Guidelines were adhered to throughout the process of developing the guidelines. The purpose of this document is to serve as a guide for authors by providing an explanation for each of the items in the PROBE 2023 checklist along with relevant examples from the literature. The document also offers advice to authors on how they can address each item in their manuscript before submission to a journal. The PROBE 2023 checklist is freely accessible and downloadable from the PRIDE website (http://pride‐endodonticguidelines.org/probe/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of nonpharmacological behavior guidance interventions used for a child undergoing preventive dental visits. Methods: Databases: Ovid MEDLINE, PsyclNFO (EBSCOhost), Embase, and Cochrane Library, were searched from 1946 to February 2022, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing effectiveness of basic and advanced nonpharmacological techniques rendered during a preventive visit including examination, prophylaxis, fluoride application and radiographs. Workgroup (WG) identified moderate-to-high quality systematic reviews (SRs) published on hypnosis, audiovisual distraction, and parental presence/absence; and decided to exclude these interventions from current SR to avoid duplication. The primary outcome measures for the studied interventions included reduction in anxiety, fear, pain, and improvement in cooperative behavior. Eight authors determined the included RCTs, performed data extraction, and assessed the risk of bias. Standardized Mean Difference calculation and assignment of quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach were done. Results: Fifteen articles qualified for analysis from 219 screened articles. WG found studies evaluating effectiveness of pre-visit preparation and in-office strategies rendered pre- or during treatment such as positive imagery, communication, modeling, tell-show-do, magic tricks, mobile applications, positive reinforcement, and sensory adapted dental environment. The certainty of evidence ranged from Very low to Moderate and the magnitude of effect varied from trivial to a large change in the desired outcomes. Conclusions: Most basic nonpharmacological behavior guidance techniques showed trivial to small reduction in self-reported anxiety and/or improvement in behavior, with mobile application and modeling showing large effects in reduction of anxiety based on some rating scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observational studies are non‐interventional studies that establish the prevalence and incidence of conditions or diseases in populations or analyse the relationship between health status and other variables. They also facilitate the development of specific research questions for future randomized trials or to answer important scientific questions when trials are not possible to carry out. This article outlines the previously documented consensus‐based approach by which the Preferred Reporting items for Observational studies in Endodontics (PROBE) 2023 guidelines were developed. A steering committee of nine members was formed, including the project leaders (PD, VN). The steering committee developed an initial checklist by combining and adapting items from the STrengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist and the Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications (CLIP) principles, as well as adding several new items specifically for the specialty of Endodontics. The steering committee then established a PROBE Delphi Group (PDG) and a PROBE Online Meeting Group (POMG) to obtain expert input and feedback on the preliminary draft checklist. The PDG members participated in an online Delphi process to reach consensus on the clarity and suitability of the items present in the PROBE checklist. The POMG then held detailed discussions on the PROBE checklist generated through the online Delphi process. This online meeting was held via the Zoom platform on 7th October 2022. Following this meeting, the steering committee revised the PROBE checklist, which was piloted by several authors when preparing a manuscript describing an observational study for publication. The PROBE 2023 checklist consists of 11 sections and 58 items. Authors are now encouraged to adopt the PROBE 2023 guidelines, which will improve the overall reporting quality of observational studies in Endodontics. The PROBE 2023 checklist is freely available and can be downloaded from the PRIDE website (https://pride‐endodonticguidelines.org/probe/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we have improved the order of the double-step Newton method from four to five using the same number of evaluation of two functions and two first order Fréchet derivatives for each iteration. The multi-step version requires one more function evaluation for each step. The multi-step version converges with order 3 r+5, r≥1. Numerical experiments are done comparing the new methods with some existing methods. Our methods are also tested on Chandrasekhar's problem and the 2-D Bratu problem to illustrate the applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we have developed a fourth order Newton-like method based on harmonic mean and its multi-step version for solving system of nonlinear equations. The new fourth order method requires evaluation of one function and twofirst order Fréchet derivatives for each iteration. The multi-step version requires one more function evaluation for each iteration. The proposed new scheme does not require the evaluation of second or higher order Fréchet derivatives and still reaches fourth order convergence. The multi-step version converges with order 2r+4, where r is a positive integer and r ≥ 1. We have proved that the root α is a point of attraction for a general iterative function, whereas the proposed new schemes also satisfy this result. Numerical experiments including an application to 1-D Bratu problem are given to illustrate the efficiency of the new methods. Also, the new methods are compared with some existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guidance to authors is needed to prevent their waste of talent, time and resources in writing manuscripts that will never be published in the highest‐quality journals. Laboratory studies are probably the most common type of endodontic research projects because they make up the majority of manuscripts submitted for publication. Unfortunately, most of these manuscripts fail the peer‐review process, primarily due to critical flaws in the reporting of the methods and results. Here, in order to guide authors, the Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology (PRIDE) team developed new reporting guidelines for laboratory‐based studies: the Preferred Reporting Items for Laboratory studies in Endodontology (PRILE) 2021 guidelines. The PRILE 2021 guidelines were developed exclusively for the area of Endodontology by integrating and adapting the modified CONSORT checklist of items for reporting in vitro studies of dental materials and the Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications (CLIP) principles. The process of developing the PRILE 2021 guidelines followed the recommendations of the Guidance for Developers of Health Research Reporting Guidelines. The aim of the current document is to provide authors with an explanation for each of the items in the PRILE 2021 checklist and flowchart with examples from the literature, and to provide advice from peer‐reviewers and editors about how to solve each problem in manuscripts prior to their peer‐review. The Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology (PRIDE) website (http://pride‐endodonticguidelines.org/prile/) provides a link to the PRILE 2021 explanation and elaboration document as well as to the checklist and flowchart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproducible, skilfully conducted and unbiased laboratory studies provide new knowledge, which can inform clinical research and eventually translate into better patient care. To help researchers improve the quality and reproducibility of their research prior to a publication peer‐review, this paper describes the process that was followed during the development of the Preferred Reporting Items for Laboratory studies in Endodontology (PRILE) 2021 guidelines and which used a well‐documented consensus‐based methodology. A steering committee was created with eight individuals (PM, RO, OP, IR, JS, EP, JJ and SP), plus the project leaders (PD, VN). The steering committee prepared an initial checklist by combining and adapting items from the modified Consolidated Statement of Reporting Trials checklist for reporting in vitro studies of dental materials and the Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications principles as well as adding several new items. The steering committee then formed a PRILE Delphi Group (PDG) and PRILE Online Meeting Group (POMG) to provide expert advice and feedback on the initial draft checklist and flowchart. The members of the PDG participated in an online Delphi process to achieve consensus on the items within the PRILE 2021 checklist and the accompanying flowchart for clarity and suitability. The PRILE checklist and flowchart developed by the online Delphi process were discussed further by the POMG. This online meeting was conducted on 12 February 2021 via the Zoom platform. Following this meeting, the steering committee developed a final version of the PRILE 2021 guidelines and flowchart, which was piloted by several authors when writing up a laboratory study for publication. Authors are encouraged to use the PRILE 2021 guidelines and flowchart to improve the clarity, completeness and quality of reports describing laboratory studies in Endodontology. The PRILE 2021 checklist and flowchart are freely available and downloadable from the Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology website (http://pride‐endodonticguidelines.org/prile/). [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]