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Materials-based drug delivery approaches have garnered substantial attention in recent years due to their potential to revolutionize pharmaceutical interventions. This abstract provides a concise overview of recent advancements and future prospects in this rapidly evolving field. Materials such as nanoparticles, liposomes, polymers, and hydrogels have emerged as versatile carriers for drug delivery. These materials facilitate precise control over drug release kinetics, enabling targeted and sustained therapeutic effects. Smart materials with responsiveness to external stimuli or physiological conditions have further enhanced drug delivery precision. Personalized medicine approaches are gaining traction, tailoring drug delivery systems to individual patient profiles and needs. The horizon for materials-based drug delivery is bright. Ongoing research is focused on refining material design, streamlining production processes, and ensuring safety profiles. Collaborative efforts among researchers, clinicians, and industry stakeholders are crucial for translating these advancements into clinical practice. Additionally, the convergence of drug delivery with diagnostics and imaging holds immense potential for personalized and efficient healthcare solutions. As materials-based drug delivery continues to evolve, it stands poised to reshape the landscape of pharmaceuticals, offering the promise of more effective and patient-centered therapies for a wide range of medical conditions.

Introduction: The teeth that appear at the time of birth are called Natal teeth. The exact cause of its appearance is unknown, but possible causes for this condition include infections, trauma, hormonal stimulation etc. There is a possibility to aspirate the tooth and difficulty with feeding. Case report: A one day old baby born with teeth in the lower jaw was referred to our dental department, Thumbay Hospital, Dubai, UAE. The crown structure was attached to the gums with grade 2 mobility (Millers classification). The shell like crown was removed with a periodontal curette and care was taken not to injure the underlying tooth. Vitamin K injection 1mg IM was given in the anterolateral thigh 2hours before the procedure. Conclusion: The appearance of natal teeth is a rare case however it is not uncommon in the newborns. Extraction as the first treatment choice should be performed as soon as possible considering all possible complications. Vitamin K administration is a mandatory step in the treatment.

Oral cancer (OC) is among the most common malignancies in the world. Despite advances in therapy, the worst-case scenario for OC remains metastasis, with a 50% survival rate. Therefore, it is critical to comprehend the pathophysiology of the condition and to create diagnostic and treatment plans for OC. The development of high-throughput genome sequencing has revealed that over 90% of the human genome encodes non-coding transcripts, or transcripts that do not code for any proteins. This paper describes the function of these different kinds of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in OC as well as their intriguing therapeutic potential. The onset and development of OC, as well as treatment resistance, are linked to dysregulated ncRNA expression. These ncRNAs' potentially significant roles in diagnosis and prognosis have been suggested by their differing expression in blood or saliva. We have outlined every promising feature of ncRNAs in the treatment of OC in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The P2X7 receptor, a member of the P2X receptor family, plays a crucial role in various physiological processes, particularly pain perception. Its expression across immune, neuronal, and glial cells facilitates the release of pro-inflammatory molecules, thereby influencing pain development and maintenance, as evidenced by its association with pulpitis in rats. Notably, P2X receptors such as P2X3 and P2X7 are pivotal in dental pain pathways, making them promising targets for novel analgesic interventions. Leveraging graph neural networks (GNNs) presents an innovative approach to model graph data, aiding in the identification of drug targets and prediction of their efficacy, complementing advancements in genomics and proteomics for therapeutic development. In this study, 921 drug-gene interactions involving P2X receptors were accessed through https://www.probes-drugs.org/. These interactions underwent meticulous annotation, preprocessing, and subsequent utilization to train and assess GNNs. Furthermore, leveraging Cytoscape, the CytoHubba plugin, and other bioinformatics tools, gene expression networks were constructed to pinpoint hub genes within these interactions. Through analysis, SLC6A3, SLC6A2, FGF1, GRK2, and PLA2G2A were identified as central hub genes within the context of P2X receptor-mediated drug-gene interactions. Despite achieving a 65 percent accuracy rate, the GNN model demonstrated suboptimal predictive power for gene-drug interactions associated with oral pain. Hence, further refinements and enhancements are imperative to unlock its full potential in elucidating and targeting pathways underlying oral pain mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study aimed to explore the attitudes and practices of dental professionals regarding alternative sources of revenue through a descriptive cross-sectional design and to explore other demographic factors which influence them. Materials and Methods A Descriptive Cross-Sectional study was conducted among 400 dental professionals selected using stratified random sampling and were approached either personally or through electronic medium to fill a pretested validated questionnaire assessing their attitudes and practices towards alternative sources of revenue. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 26.0. Cross tabulations were made and statistical significance was assessed using Pearson’s Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. A Binary Logistic Regression model was developed to predict the practice of alternative sources of revenue based on gender, qualification, occupation, and experience. Results The results showed that about 36% of the participants are currently pursuing alternative sources of income with a significantly higher percentage of females involved (p=0.005). Most of the participants (37.6%) reported investing in stocks and finance followed by real estate, food industry, career guidance, product development etc. Around twothirds of females reported being unsatisfied with their current income from dentistry and they have 1.76 times the odds of pursuing alternative sources compared to males (p=0.022). Undergraduate dentists have 2.51 times the odds of practising other means of revenue. Conclusions The study concludes that a substantial percentage of respondents had pursued alternative sources of revenue. Policymakers and educators can use these findings to develop strategies to promote entrepreneurship and financial literacy among dental professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of dentistry has always been dominated by males in the past century. In the recent days, this gender disparity is becoming an increasingly significant issue as it has affected men and women differently, in service providers and recipients' aspect. With the increased entry of females in the field, it's consequence is yet to be understood globally. As interns are the future generation of dentists, it is necessary to understand their perception of the issue. This is a cross-sectional questionnaire based study was done in 8 dental colleges in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on students doing their Compulsory Rotatory Internship (CRI). After statistical analysis, it was found that the "narrowing" gender divide is yet to have its complete impact on the perception of people. There is absence of stigma on working on patients or working with doctors of other gender and there is a healthy trend in outlook towards the other gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Periodontitis is a very common polymicrobial infection of the oral cavity with wide systemic implications. It is influenced by multiple aspects, such as virulence of bacteria, the host response and resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, both within and outside the biofilm. Commonly, antibiotics are employed to break this vicious activity of microbes. There is a lacuna in the literature regarding the comparative efficacy of newer congeners of doxycycline. The aim of the study was to objectively compare the binding capacity of newer congeners of doxycycline with clinically significant targets relevant to periodontitis. Material and methods: A total of 5 drugs, viz. doxycycline, tigecycline, eravacycline, sarecycline and omadacycline, were selected, and molecular docking studies were performed with four targets: gingipain, FimA, interleukin-1ß and estrogen receptor ß. The studies were performed using AutoDock version 4. The results were reported based on the binding free energy, electrostatic interaction and intermolecular attraction. These values were compared and reported. Results: The drugs selected showed good binding to all four targets but had many differences in binding efficacy. Omadacycline, tigecycline, sarecycline, and doxycycline revealed 100% binding efficacy by occupying the core amino acid residues (444 HIS, 477 CYS and 388 ASP) over the target protein. Conclusions: Doxycycline can be replaced with omadacycline for clinical use. This result warrants future clinical investigations on omadacycline for periodontal therapy in both local and systemic administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontal disease is the inflammation of the periodontal supporting structures of teeth. An index is an important tool of surveillance system based on the requirements of reliability, simplicity, and validity to screen oral health disease of the population. This paper aims to discuss on various indices formulated to measure periodontal disease from past to present. This paper reviews indices and different recording systems used to measure periodontal diseases at the population level by retrieving articles, selecting, writing, and summarizing the article. The advantages and disadvantages of various indices used for measuring periodontal disease are discussed in this article. Community Periodontal Index is the most widely accepted index used in larger research studies. However, presently, clinical attachment loss is a widely accepted tool for the diagnosis of periodontal disease. Future advances in new screening methods will be able to provide new opportunities in the diagnosis of active and progressive periodontal disease, which will further help in more precise screening of periodontal disease in larger research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemophilia A is a genetic coagulation disorder associated with a deficiency of clotting factor VIII. It can be inherited or acquired and have different levels of severity. The present case report describes a Libyan male patient with Factor VIII deficiency who underwent multiple remaining roots extraction. The patient was a 26-year-old Libyan male with history of hemophilia A of mild type. The patient underwent blood tests and imaging to assess the severity of hemophilia and the condition of the surgical area. The blood examination revealed normal Bilirubin level (0.6), low levels of, RBC (4.55), HGB (10.9), PT (17.7) and slight changes in platelet count and Factor VIII level. The treatment plan for the day of surgery was accordingly, the patient was administered Factor VIII 24 hours before the day of surgery. The patient underwent the multiple roots extraction of lower left first and second molar under local anesthesia using 2% Lidocaine with 1:80, 000 Adrenaline. The Injection technique was regional nerve block (inferior alveolar, Lingual, and long buccal nerve block). After extraction, direct pressure on the area using a damp gauze swab, maintained for at least 30 min, a hemostat and multiple thread suture were applied. One hour after surgical removal of the roots again the patient administered Factor VIII. There was no subsequent bleeding or complications at follow-up in the first three days. In the fourth day there was moderate bleeding at the extraction sockets continued for a day. At fifth day the patient was admitted at the Sebha Medical Centre. The bleeding stopped after 24 hours. Treatment plan in the Medical Centre was administration of factor FVIII, tranexamic acid 500 mg three times a day and vitamin K once a day. All injections were given intravenously. Then the patient discharged from the Centre in the sixth day after bleeding controlled. The wound had healed completely without abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The teeth play various functional roles, from the most basic functions to more subtle functions. One of the most tragic events that can happen to the teeth are loss it, as a result trauma or dental diseases. Tooth loss has esthetic, functional, positional and psychological impacts on the life of individuals. Objectives: To investigate the association between tooth loss and oral health problems among partially and completely edentulous patients. Method: (Questionnaire and Clinical Examination). Self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the patients to collect information relating to demography and cause of tooth loss, in addition to mastication and speech state after tooth loss. Four clinical conditions including supra-eruption, drifting teeth, temporomandibular disorders and bone resorption were used to recognize the effects of missing teeth. Patients seeking dental treatment at General Hospital, Morzuk, Libya were recruited for the study. Criteria included age of 16 years and above with one or more missing teeth except for third molars. Results: altogether 58 participants, 31 (53.4 %) were males while 27 (46.6%) were females. The participants were aged 16–>45 years, among them, 44 patients (75.9%) are partially edentulous, and 14 patients (24.1%) were completely edentulous. The patients with complete teeth loss and the patients with missing both the anterior and posterior teeth are most groups suffer problems among patients who involved in the study. patients who loss posterior teeth are the lowest group had, suffer of health problems due to loss of teeth among all of them. The general relationship between tooth loss and the oral health problems was positive and strong. Conclusions: there are statistically significant relationship between tooth loss and oral health problems, where the strong value of this relationship (0.614) and significance within less than (0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halitosis is an important social complaint which affects both healthy and periodontally diseased individuals. Oral malodor is mainly caused by a microbial degradation of both sulfur-containing and nonsulfur-containing amino acids into volatile, bad-smelling gases. Anaerobic gram-negative bacteria, the same species that have been linked to periodontal diseases, are especially involved in this process, explaining the link between oral malodor with periodontitis. The following study was done to investigate the parameters of halitosis and sialometry of Emirati diabetic patients in correlation with oral concentration of volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), salivary flow rate before and after non-surgical periodontal treatment (scaling & root planning) for patients having moderate Generalized and/localized chronic periodontitis. Subjects and Methods: Eighty-one (81) Emirati subjects volunteers were recruited from the dental hospital, with average age 38-49 years. They have been divided into in three groups: Group I (negative control), Group II, and Group III and Group IIIa. Halitosis measurements for all volunteers had been recorded using Gas Chromatography. For group III samples were collected before periodontal treatment, and subsequently at two- & four-weeks following start of non-surgical periodontal treatment (Scaling & root planning). Results: There were 54 patients participated in this study. Of the 54, 27 were control and the remaining were controlled DM. The mean and SD of all variables before and after the intervention showed that the values of all variables reducing after the intervention. All the difference observed was statistically significant (P<0.001). This study observed that the mean value of unstimulated salivary flow rate and stimulated salivary flow rate was less in the controlled DM group compared to control group, but for probing picker depth, CAL and average bone loss was more in controlled DM group compared to control group. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be stated that diabetes is a major risk factor for periodontitis, and the risk of periodontal disease increases if glycemic control is poor; it was also proved beyond doubt that people with poorly controlled diabetes are at an increased risk of periodontal disease and loss of alveolar bone. Controlling diabetes by successfully improving glycemic control will reduce the risk and severity of periodontal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic dentistry may be defined as that branch of forensic medicine that applies dental knowledge to civil and criminal problems. It is the branch of Forensic sciences which utilizes the skill of the dentist in the processing, review, evaluation and presentation of dental evidence with the purpose of contributing scientific and objective data in legal processes. The methods of collecting the data utilizes the developed technologies and have undergone significant transformation. The methods used include, dental imaging techniques, bite-mark analysis, DNA analysis using oral tissues, cheiloscopy, and rugoscopy in addition to facial reconstruction, denture identification, comparison microscopes, and tongue prints which are the recent inputs in the field of forensic odontology. This article provides an overview of the recent trends in conventional forensic methods and also provides an insight into the recent concepts used in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The research was performed for the clinical and computerized tomography (CT) assessment of cortico-cancellous block allograft in the reconstruction of lateral alveolar ridge width deficiency prior to placement of dental implants., Materials and Methods: Ten patients who had atrophic mandibular ridge necessitating bone augmentation prior to implant placement were randomly selected, and corticocancellous block allografts were used to augment the lateral ridge deficiency. The grafted site was assessed clinically and with CT preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. Surgical re-entry was done after 6 months for dental implant placement., Results: During the 6-month evaluation period, all the block allografts had integrated well with the host tissue. Clinically, all the grafts were found to be firm in consistency, well-incorporated, and vascularized. Both the clinical and CT measurements showed increase in bone width. The dental implants had good primary stability., Conclusion: Bone-block allografts can be employed as a marked graft material for the management of lateral ridge defects., Clinical Significance: During precise and accurate surgical methods, this type of bone graft can be safely used in regions of implant placement as a convenient alternative to autogenous grafts.

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic debilitating condition of the oral mucosa that has been classified as a potentially malignant disorder with a malignant transformation rate of 2%-8%. Several in vitro and in vivo experiments have been performed to formulate a treatment modality for OSMF, yet no ideal in vitro primary oral fibroblast model has been developed., Aim: To establish an in vitro primary oral fibroblast model., Setting and Design: In vitro laboratory setting., Materials and Methodology: Primary cell culture protocol was performed after obtaining normal oral tissue. Karyotyping was performed to rule out chromosomal abnormalities. Immunofluorescence staining was carried with a panel of fibroblast-specific markers (vimentin, phalloidin, transforming growth factor-β receptor 1 [TGFβR1] and s100a4) and Masson trichrome staining (MTS) to demonstrate the presence of extracellular matrix (ECM) qualitatively., Results: A monolayer of oral fibroblasts was observed on the 9 th -day postseeding. No chromosomal abnormality was observed in the patient samples. Positive staining was observed with vimentin, phalloidin, TGFβR1 and s100a4, thereby confirming the cell type. MTS revealed fibroblasts with spindle morphology and scanty ECM., Conclusion: The present study lays down a protocol to design and characterize primary buccal fibroblast cell culture model that would aid researchers in performing in vitro preliminary experiments in areas concerning fibrosis., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.