Gender analysis of editorial boards and authorship in leading endodontics journals.

Aim: To evaluate the presence of women on editorial boards and as authors in leading global endodontics journals from 2018 to 2023.

Methodology: The selection of journals was based on the impact factor from Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and CiteScore 2022, with criteria of JCR above 1 and CiteScore above 1.5.

Randomized trial of dentists' understanding: treatment benefit in absolute numbers vs relative risk reduction.

This study aimed to assess whether dentists correctly understand the benefit of a dental treatment when it is presented using absolute numbers or relative risk reduction (RRR). This parallel-group randomized controlled trial recruited dentists from 3 postgraduate courses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants received, in sequentially numbered sealed opaque envelopes, the description of a hypothetical scenario of the benefit (avoidance of multiple tooth loss) of nonsurgical periodontal treatment without or with antibiotics.

Spin in dental publications: a scoping review.

The aim of this review was to map the practice of spin in scientific publications in the dental field. After registering the review protocol (osf.io/kw5qv/), a search was conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, CENTRAL, Embase, Scopus, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.

High certainty evidence is stable and trustworthy, whereas evidence of moderate or lower certainty may be equally prone to being unstable.

Objectives: To assess to what extent the overall quality of evidence indicates changes to observe intervention effect estimates when new data become available.

Methods: We conducted a meta-epidemiological study. We obtained evidence from meta-analyses of randomized trials of Cochrane reviews addressing the same health-care question that was updated with inclusion of additional data between January 2016 and May 2021.

Risk of Bias and Methodological Critical Appraisal in Systematic Reviews of Non- and Micro-Invasive Caries Management for Primary and Permanent Teeth.

Introduction: Pediatric dentistry should rely on evidence-based clinical decisions supported by high-quality, unbiased systematic reviews (SRs). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the methodological quality and risk of bias of SRs focused on non- and micro-invasive treatment for caries lesions in primary and permanent teeth.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in multiple databases, including MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, Epistemonikos, and ProQuest, up to March 2023 to identify relevant systematic reviews (SRs) focused on non- and micro-invasive caries treatment.

Health professionals' recommendations on the use of fluoride varnish for caries prevention in preschool children.

Background: Fluoride varnish (FV) is widely recommended for caries prevention in preschool children, despite its anticaries benefits being uncertain and modest. Dentists often report using clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) as a source of scientific information.

Aim: To identify and analyze recommendations for clinical practice on the use of FV for caries prevention in preschool children and to assess the methodological quality of the CPG on this topic.

Economic evaluation of fluoride varnish application in preschoolers: A systematic review.

Background: Fluoride varnish (FV) is a convenient way of professionally applying fluoride in preschoolers. However, its modest anticaries effect highlights the need for economic evaluations.

Aim: To assess economic evaluations reporting applications of FV to reduce caries incidence in preschoolers.

Efficacy and safety of hemodialysis strategies for pregnant women with chronic kidney disease: Systematic review.

Pregnancy in chronic kidney disease (CKD) women is relatively rare, and the less risky choice of hemodialysis is unknown. The objective of this systematic review was to identify, systematically evaluate and summarize the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of hemodialysis strategies for pregnant CKD women. Sensitive search strategies were applied to six databases without data or language restrictions.

Does the use of fiber posts increase the fracture resistance of simulated immature teeth? A systematic review.

This systematic review aimed to assess if the use of fiber posts reinforces weakened immature teeth. A systematic review was conducted of laboratory studies that evaluated the fracture resistance of simulated immature teeth restored with fiber posts compared to teeth restored exclusively with resin. An electronic search was performed using the following databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS, BBO, and grey literature.

Efficacy and safety of home-based intravenous antibiotic therapy among adults: a systematic review.

The aim of this study was to identify, systematically assess and summarise the available evidence about the efficacy and safety of intravenous home antibiotic therapy. In this systematic review, we considered studies of adults with any kind of infection and recommended intravenous antibiotic therapy. We included studies comparing therapy given at the patient's home versus any other setting (other levels of healthcare services or sites).

High quality (certainty) evidence changes less often than low-quality evidence, but the magnitude of effect size does not systematically differ between studies with low versus high-quality evidence.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: It is generally believed that evidence from low quality of evidence generate inaccurate estimates about treatment effects more often than evidence from high (certainty) quality evidence (CoE). As a result, we would expect that (a) estimates of effects of health interventions initially based on high CoE change less frequently than the effects estimated by lower CoE (b) the estimates of magnitude of effect size differ between high and low CoE. Empirical assessment of these foundational principles of evidence-based medicine has been lacking.

Oral manifestations of congenital Zika virus infection in children with microcephaly: 18-month follow-up case series.

Aims: To describe oral manifestations in children born with microcephaly attributed to congenital Zika virus syndrome (CZS).

Methods: Data was collected in semiannual intervals from 2017 to 2019, by oral exams of the children and interview with caregivers at a Public Dental Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A single calibrated examiner performed clinical examinations.

Professionally and Self-Applied Fluorides are Effective in Preventing Dental Root Caries.

Article Title And Bibliographic Information: Topical Fluoride to Prevent Root Caries: Systematic Review with Network Meta-analysis. Zhang J, Sardana D, Li KY, Leung KCM, Lo ECM. J Dent Res.

One year of unsolicited e-mails: The modus operandi of predatory journals and publishers.

Objectives: To quantify, characterize and analyze e-mail from predatory journals (PJ) received by an academic in dentistry.

Methods: E-mails received in 2019 and suspected of being potentially predatory were pre-selected. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) checklist was applied to identify the suspected biomedical PJ, including the following criteria: article processing charge (APC), fake impact factor, the journal being listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Prevalence of dental anxiety in children and adolescents globally: A systematic review with meta-analyses.

Background: Dental anxiety (DA) negatively impacts oral health-related quality of life, and patients with DA usually require more dental treatment time.

Aim: To describe the global prevalence of DA in children and adolescents and to examine the influence of individual factors (age, sex, and caries experience) and variables related to DA measurement on pooled prevalence.

Design: Systematic review with meta-analyses of observational studies published between 1985 and 2020 (PROSPERO CRD42014013879).

Risk communication in the context of clinical research.

Physicians and dentists usually make clinical decisions and recommendations without a clear understanding of the meaning of the numbers regarding the accuracy of diagnostic tests and the efficacy of treatments. This critical review aimed to identify problems in the communication of diagnostic test accuracy and treatment benefits and to suggest strategies to improve risk communication in these contexts. Most clinical decisions are taken under uncertainty.

Strategies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization declared a COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, when there were 4,293 confirmed cumulative deaths. By May 17, 2020 this number increased to 315,005. The risk of death is higher above the age of 60, but there are many deaths below 60 (for example, in Sao Paulo, 25%).

Fluoride Varnish and Dental Caries in Preschoolers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of fluoride varnish (FV) in reducing dentine caries at the patient, tooth, and surface levels as well as caries-related hospitalizations in preschoolers. We performed a systematic review of clinical trials of FV, alone or associated with an oral health program, compared with placebo, usual care, or no intervention. Bibliographical search included electronic searches of seven databases, registers of ongoing trials, and meeting abstracts, as well as hand searching.

Prevalence of self-reported gingival bleeding in a representative sample of the Brazilian adolescent population.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported gingival bleeding in a representative sample of 12- to 17-year-old Brazilian adolescents.

Materials And Methods: Sociodemographic and oral health information were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire of the Study of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents. The adolescents answered "yes" or "no" to the question "Do your gums bleed?"

Results: 74,589 of the 102,327 eligible adolescents answered the questionnaire and 18.

Clinical accuracy data presented as natural frequencies improve dentists' caries diagnostic inference: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The authors assessed whether dentists' diagnostic inferences differ when test accuracy information is communicated using natural frequencies versus conditional probabilities.

Methods: A parallel, randomized controlled trial with dentists was carried out in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The dentists received a question on the probability of a patient having interproximal caries, given a positive bite-wing radiograph.

A systematic review of the effects of supervised toothbrushing on caries incidence in children and adolescents.

Background: The anticaries effect of supervised toothbrushing, irrespective of the effect of fluoride toothpaste, has not been clearly determined yet.

Aim: To assess the effects of supervised toothbrushing on caries incidence in children and adolescents.

Design: A systematic review of controlled trials was performed (CRD42014013879).

Children's Toothbrushing Practices Recommended on the Internet by Pediatric Dentistry Associations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe online recommendations by North and South American National Associations of Pediatric Dentistry (NAPD), intended for laypersons, concerning children's toothbrushing practices.

Methods: In February 2015, the International Association of Pediatric Dentistry (IAPD) website and the Latin American Association of Pediatric Dentistry (ALOP) Facebook webpage were searched to identify which countries had NAPD. Attempts were made to obtain the electronic addresses of ALOP national member societies, and Google and Facebook were used to identify NAPD not found using the previous strategies.