Personal protective equipment during COVID-19: A natural history of dental and dental hygiene regulatory guidance in Canada.

Background: Due to the evolving nature of COVID-19, there is evidence that COVID-19-specific infection prevention and control guideline (IPCG) documents formulated for oral health care settings are also changing rapidly. To better inform future policies, a comprehensive review of all IPCG documents across different phases of restrictions for oral health care practitioners is required.

Types Of Studies Reviewed: A search was performed for documents shared from March 2020 through January 2022 on websites of oral health regulatory authorities in Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Motivations for and outcomes of graduate education amongst dental hygienists: A pan-Canadian study.

Objectives: Motivations and career outcomes of dental hygienists with baccalaureate degrees have been recently reported; however, few studies have explored Canadian dental hygienists pursuing graduate education. There is limited evidence to inform career outcomes and motivating factors for advanced education, limiting knowledge of how professional outcomes have evolved alongside advancements in graduate program offerings. This study focused on understanding motivating factors to pursue graduate education and the professional outcomes of dental hygienists with graduate degrees.

Exploring the microbiome of oral epithelial dysplasia as a predictor of malignant progression.

A growing body of research associates the oral microbiome and oral cancer. Well-characterized clinical samples with outcome data are required to establish relevant associations between the microbiota and disease. The objective of this study was to characterize the community variations and the functional implications of the microbiome in low-grade oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing from annotated archival swabs in progressing (P) and non-progressing (NP) OED.

Motivating influences and career outcomes of baccalaureate-educated dental hygienists: a pan-Canadian study.

Background: As discussions about baccalaureate education for dental hygiene continue at national and international levels, examining outcomes of earning a baccalaureate degree in a Canadian context is essential. This study aimed to explore the motivating reasons for pursuing a dental hygiene baccalaureate degree in Canada and the career outcomes of Canadian dental hygiene baccalaureate degree graduates.

Methods: Graduates from all 4 Canadian dental hygiene degree programs (N = 262) participated in a cross-sectional online survey between November and December 2021.

Canadian dental hygienists' experiences and perceptions of regulatory guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative descriptive analysis.

Background: In Spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian provincial dental hygiene regulatory bodies implemented new practice guidelines. Reports of stress, anxiety and conflict experienced by dental hygienists have been linked to miscommunication between oral health regulators at this time. Limited data exists on the perceptions and experiences of dental hygienists navigating new guidelines for dental hygiene care during the pandemic.

COVID-19 incidence and vaccination rates among Canadian dental hygienists.

Background: Oral health care settings potentially carry a high risk of cross-infection due to close contact and aerosol-generating procedures. There is limited evidence of the impact of COVID-19 among dental hygienists. This longitudinal study aimed to 1) estimate COVID-19 incidence rates among Canadian dental hygienists over a 1-year period; and 2) estimate vaccination rates among Canadian dental hygienists.

Burnout syndrome in Nova Scotia dental hygienists during the COVID-19 pandemic: Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Background: Burnout syndrome is the result of prolonged occupational stress. The syndrome has 3 dimensions: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). This study aimed to examine the prevalence of the 3 dimensions of burnout in dental hygienists in Nova Scotia, Canada, (N = 745) as they returned to work during the COVID-19 pandemic following a furlough; to explore the effect of burnout during COVID-19 on dental hygienists' professional lives; and to determine the tools and methods that dental hygienists use to overcome burnout.

Inhibition of mTOR signaling and clinical activity of metformin in oral premalignant lesions.

BACKGROUNDThe aberrant activation of the PI3K/mTOR signaling circuitry is one of the most frequently dysregulated signaling events in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Here, we conducted a single-arm, open-label phase IIa clinical trial in individuals with oral premalignant lesions (OPLs) to explore the potential of metformin to target PI3K/mTOR signaling for HNSCC prevention.METHODSIndividuals with OPLs, but who were otherwise healthy and without diabetes, underwent pretreatment and posttreatment clinical exam and biopsy.

Basement membrane degeneration is common in lichenoid mucositis with dysplasia.

Background: Two subtypes of lichenoid mucositis (LM) with oral epithelial dysplasia have been proposed, with differing risks of malignant transformation. However, no research has been done to authenticate this hypothesis. The study objective was to determine whether there are 2 subcategories within this entity, one with primary lichenoid and secondary dysplastic features (LD), and the other with primary dysplastic and secondary lichenoid features (DL), and to compare the proportion of malignant progression in these groups.

Janus or Hydra: The Many Faces of T Helper Cells in the Human Tumour Microenvironment.

CD4+ T helper (T) cells are key regulators in the tumour immune microenvironment (TIME), mediating the adaptive immunological response towards cancer, mainly through the activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. After antigen recognition and proper co-stimulation, naïve T cells are activated, undergo clonal expansion, and release cytokines that will define the differentiation of a specific effector T cell subtype. These different subtypes have different functions, which can mediate both anti- and pro-tumour immunological responses.

Expanding the Transcriptome of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Through Novel MicroRNA Discovery.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has a poor survival rate mainly due to late stage diagnosis and recurrence. Despite genomic efforts to identify driver mutations and changes in protein-coding gene expression, developing effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers remains a priority to guide disease management and improve patient outcome. Recent reports of previously-unannotated microRNAs (miRNAs) from multiple somatic tissues have raised the possibility of HNSCC-specific miRNAs.

Upgrading the Repertoire of miRNAs in Gastric Adenocarcinoma to Provide a New Resource for Biomarker Discovery.

Recent studies have uncovered microRNAs (miRNAs) that have been overlooked in early genomic explorations, which show remarkable tissue- and context-specific expression. Here, we aim to identify and characterize previously unannotated miRNAs expressed in gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). Raw small RNA-sequencing data were analyzed using the miRMaster platform to predict and quantify previously unannotated miRNAs.

Previously undescribed thyroid-specific miRNA sequences in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common thyroid malignancy, wherein diagnostic limitations and lack of accurate prognostic factors are important clinical challenges. In this study, we report the discovery of 234 novel miRNAs in non-neoplastic thyroid and PTC samples, obtained from publicly available small RNA sequencing datasets (TCGA and GEO). These sequences were observed to display similar molecular features compared to currently annotated miRNAs.