Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Biosecurity protocols are particularly important in dental practice. The aim of this research was to determine the level of patient satisfaction regarding biosecurity protocols used in the School of Dentistry of the University of Costa Rica, to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care. A survey was sent by email to all patients who received dental consultations at the School of Dentistry between April and September 2021. They were asked about sociodemographic variables (sex, age range, approved educational level, and place of origin), as well as whether they considered safe the protocols used during the dental consultation to avoid COVID-19 infections. Descriptive statistics were performed proving the absolute and relative frequency of the socio-demographic variables and the satisfaction of patients with the protocols used. A Chi-square test was used to determine if there was a difference in patient satisfaction with biosecurity protocols to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care and sociodemographic variables. 95.9% of the respondents considered the biosafety protocols used to be safe and there was no statistically significant difference between patient satisfaction with the protocols and sociodemographic variables. A large majority of patients who come to the UCR School of Dentistry are satisfied with the biosecurity protocols used to avoid COVID-19 infections during dental care.

Evidence has been reported that shows that somatosensory perception can be altered by a trigeminal injury resulting from maxillofacial surgical procedures. However, the surgical procedures that most frequently cause trigeminal lesions and the risk factors are unknown. In the same way, there is little information on what has been determined in preclinical models of trigeminal injury. This article integrates relevant information on trigeminal injury from both clinical findings and primary basic science studies. This review shows that the age and complexity of surgical procedures are essential to induce orofacial sensory alterations.

Exfoliative cheilitis (EC) is a rare and chronic inflammatory condition. It is characterized by a continuous peeling of the vermilion of the lips and abnormal production of keratin scales. Treatment is difficult due to its chronic nature and it is often refractory. The objective of this article is to describe the management of EC and its impact on quality of life through two clinical cases. Two patients with EC are reported: one 21 years old with allergic rhinitis and gastric reflux, the other 18 years old, with a history of anxiety symptoms, without medication or psychiatric control. They had chronic scaly and crusty areas on both lip vermilions.  In one of the patients, a biopsy was prescribed and he was treated with antifungals and topical vitamin E. Both patients were prescribed hydration, balanced diet, the application of moisturizing lip balm with sunscreen and modification of parafunctional habits, behavioral aid.  The treatment healed the condition and eased their daily life and improved personal perception. Nibbling and lip licking favor dryness and superinfection in patients with EC; for its part, hydration, topical vitamin E and behavioral aid, improved this condition.

The objective of this research was to determine some of the sociodemographic and academic characteristics of the students who entered the Dentistry career in the period 2007 to 2014. Data was collected from 673 student files. The variables considered were sex, admission age, marital status, children, nationality, place of origin, high school of origin, and admission exam score. The data was obtained from the database of the Student Applications System, the physical files, and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica. Descriptive statistics were performed, establishing the absolute and relative frequency of the variables. The Mann-Whitney test was used to determine if there were statistically significant differences between the admission exam and the established sociodemographic variables (p<0,05, IC 95%). 68,4% of the students are female. The average age was 18.4 years (SD=2,41). 99,0% of the students are from Costa Rica. 99,3% were single and only 0,9% had children. The largest number of students entered through an admission exam (78.9%) and 50.7% studied at a public high school. Regarding the address, 77.9% of the subjects resided in the Greater Metropolitan Area. The average grade of the admission exam was 613,8 (SD=49,95). There was a statistically significant difference between the entrance exam grade and the different types of high schools of origin. The group of students who entered to train as Dentists at the University of Costa Rica from 2007 to 2014 was a population with an average age of entry of 18,4 years, Costa Rican, predominantly female, single, without children, from geographic areas within the Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA), graduated from public schools with an average admission exam grade of 612,2.

Bruxism is the repetitive muscle-mandibular behavior characterized by clenching and/or grinding of the teeth, which reflects the presence of one or more underlying conditions or factors. The objective of this descriptive study was to determine the association between bruxism and stress self-perceived during the pandemic, as well as their frequency by gender and academic area. An interrogation and self-perceived stress scale PSS-14 were applied to students from the different areas of the Institute of Health Sciences (ICSa) to determine the presence or absence of stress and bruxism symptom, a Chi-square was used for the comparison between variables, considering a value of p<0.005 as significant, a two-way ANOVA was performed to evaluate the difference between the symptoms before and during the isolation of the pandemic. The total number of participants was 825, a final sample of 420 students was obtained, made up of 297 (70.72%) women and 123 (29.28%) men, with an average age of 20±1.75 years. We found an association between the frequency of bruxism and severe stress generated during the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a high perception of stress in the medicine area and a high frequency of bruxism in the area of nutrition p>0.005. ICSa students between 18 and 24 age perceive symptoms of bruxism and high levels of stress caused during the pandemic.

This study aimed: 1) to investigate sources of information used by students to learn about COVID-19, 2) to investigate levels of knowledge about COVID-19 and about conditions for the treatment of patients during the COVID-19 lockdown, and 3) to evaluate students’ perceptions of safety regarding their return to in-person activities at the School of Dentistry. Dental students answered a questionnaire (29 items; n=371) that explored the aims of the study, based on a Likert scale (Cronbach’s alpha, 0.778). Data were tested with the Mann-Whitney U test and Kendall’s Tau-c. Dental students received information about COVID-19 from the Mexican Health Ministry as their first source (45.28%). Students had good knowledge about the main characteristics of COVID-19, and 59.3% of students had excellent knowledge about the factors relevant to dental treatment of patients. Half of the students said they felt safe regarding a possible return to in-person activities at the dental school, while the other half did not. Statistically significant differences were noted between the students’ scholar year and their level of knowledge (P<0.001) and between their perception of safety (very unsafe, unsafe, safe, and very safe) and scholar year (P=0.000). Dental students had good knowledge about COVID-19 and about the dental care for patients during the lockdown. Half of the dental students felt unsafe about a possible return to in-person school activities.  

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of different disinfection protocols of dentin on bond strength of an MDP-containing universal adhesive. Twelve extracted mandibular third molars were separated horizontally at the mid-coronal of crown to get smooth and sound dentin surfaces using low-speed diamond saw. The teeth were randomly fallen into four groups: chlorhexidine (CHX), ozone, Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation (LASER) and no treatment (control). After cavity disinfection application, a universal adhesive (G-Premio Bond) was applied to the surface of dentin according to self-etch mode as instructed by the manufacturer. After incremental built-up of composite resin (Charisma Smart), the specimens were immersed in distilled water at 37°C for 24h. Dentin/composite beams with 1 mm² cross sectional area were produced and micro-tensile bond strength (µTBS) was applied on these beams (n=20). Failure mods were determined under a stereomicroscope at ×40. The resin penetration of samples stained with Rhodamine B fluorochrome dye was examined with a confocal laser scanning microscope. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS-22. Test results were analyzed using One-way Anova and Tukey HSD Post-Hoc tests (p<0.05). The µTBS value of control (35.13±6.20) was the highest statistically among the groups (p<0.05). The lowest µTBS were obtained by LASER (19.25±4.66) and CHX (23.07±7.01). There was no significant difference between CHX and LASER, and between CHX and ozone (p>0.5). All applications of cavity disinfection procedures decreased the µTBS of the resin-dentin interface.

To evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) of self-adhesive resin cement when used with two different computer-aided design (CAD)-computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) materials after various surface treatments. Nanoceramic resin Lava Ultimate (LU) and feldspathic ceramic Vita Mark II (VM) CAD-CAM block samples were prepared with 1.5-mm thickness, and a total of 90 samples were obtained (N=90), with five samples of each block. The samples were divided into the following five groups according to the surface treatments (n=9): group 1, untreated (control); group 2,5% hydrofluoric acid etching; group 3, Er: YAG laser irradiation; group 4, tribochemical silica coating (Cojet); and group 5, air-abrasion with Al2O3. After silane application, resin cement was applied on a transparent matrix (diameter, 3mm; height, 2mm) on the blocks. SBS was determined using a universal testing device at a crosshead speed of 1mm/min. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post hoc tests were used to analyze the SBS values. LU showed the highest SBS value in group 4. The average SBS values in groups 3 and were found to be lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). When VM was examined, while all surface treatments increased the SBS values significantly, the highest SBS value was observed in group 4 (p<0.05). This study revealed that all surface treatments used negatively affected the bond strength values of self-adhesive resin cement to LU, except for Cojet application. The SBS values of resin cement with VM increased in all surface treatment application groups.

To investigate the root canal anatomy of permanent maxillary and mandibular canines in a Turkish subpopulation using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Retrospective CBCT data of 300 patients admitted to our clinic between 2016 and 2018 were screened and evaluated. A total of 235 patients, 100 males and 135 females, aged 14-76 years (mean age 37.27±13.40) were included in this study. A total of 191 (44,8%) maxillary canine teeth and 235 (55,2%) mandibular canine teeth were examined. The number of roots and root canal morphology according to Vertucci’s classification, the presence of accessory canals, and the position of the apical foramen of the root were analyzed. The effect of gender and age on the incidence of root canal morphology was also investigated. The majority of the teeth had a Type I canal configuration in both maxillary canines (100%) and mandibular canines (92,8%). In the mandibular canines the other canal patterns found were Type III (6,8%), and Type II (0,4%). Apical foramen was centrally positioned in the majority of the teeth, 70,2% and 66,8% in maxillary and mandibular canines, respectively. The occurrence of two roots in mandibular canines was 3,8% and the root canal separation was found 53,8% and 46,2% in the middle and cervical third of the root, respectively. No significant statistical difference was observed effect of gender and age on the incidence of the root canal morphology and the position of the apical foramen. Due to the diverse morphology and the potential presence of a second canal for canine teeth among the Turkish subpopulation, dentists should perform endodontic treatments with greater care. CBCT is an accurate tool for the morphological assessment of the root canals.

A congenital granular cell tumor is a benign and rare tumor of the oral cavity, which occurs exclusively in newborns and can cause, due to its size, a mechanical obstruction of the airway, and consequently, respiratory problems and feeding problems. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is important to promote the quality of life of both the patient and the parents. The purpose of this report is to (i) present the case of a patient diagnosed with congenital granular cell tumor (congenital epulis), its treatment and evolution and (ii) a review of the related literature because although its incidence is low, it is estimated that in 0.0006% of the cases the consequences are of important consideration if adequate management is not given.