Objectives: The effect of COVID-19 mitigation measures on different oral health care needs is unclear. This study aimed to estimate the effect of COVID-19 mitigation measures on different types of oral health care utilization needs and explore the heterogeneity of such effects in different countries by using real-time Internet search data.
Methods: Data were obtained from Google Trends and other public databases. The monthly relative search volume (RSV) of the search topics "toothache," "gingivitis," "dentures," "orthodontics," and "mouth ulcer" from January 2004 to June 2021 was collected for analysis. The RSV value of each topics before and after COVID-19 was the primary outcome, which was estimated by regression discontinuity analysis (RD). The effect bandwidth time after the COVID-19 outbreak was estimated by the data-driven optimal mean square error bandwidth method. Effect heterogeneity of COVID-19 on dental care was also evaluated in different dental care categories and in countries with different human development index (HDI) rankings, dentist densities, and population age structures.
Results: A total of 17,850 monthly RSV from 17 countries were used for analysis. The RD results indicated that advanced dental care was significantly decreased (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.47-0.85) after the COVID-19 outbreak, while emergency dental care toothache was significantly increased (OR: 1.54, 95% CI: 0.99-2.37) 4 months after the COVID-19 outbreak. Compared to the countries with low HDI and low dentist density, the effect was much more evident in countries with high HDI and high dentist density.
Conclusions: COVID-19 mitigation measures have different effects on people with various dental care needs worldwide. Dental care services should be defined into essential care and advanced care according to specific socioeconomic status in different countries. Targeted health strategies should be conducted to satisfy different dental care needs in countries.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.890469 | DOI Listing |
J Oral Biol Craniofac Res
January 2025
Department of Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Introdution: Although oral and dental diseases may occur in unexpected or even emergency conditions, but some of the diagnosis and treatments can be algorithmically done following some guidelines. The development and implementation of a system that provides users with a record of history and a proposal of required actions can be not only efficiently practical, but also virtually simple.
Materials And Method: A system made up of web and mobile apps is proposed and evaluated for screening and self-care of oral and dental problems and for providing advice on dental emergencies and therapeutic measures.
RSC Chem Biol
January 2025
Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Kamigyo-ku 465 Kajii-cho Kyoto 602-8566 Japan
A multiomic study of the structural characteristics of type A and B influenza viruses by means of highly spectrally resolved Raman spectroscopy is presented. Three virus strains, A H1N1, A H3N2, and B98, were selected because of their known structural variety and because they have co-circulated with variable relative prevalence within the human population since the re-emergence of the H1N1 subtype in 1977. Raman signatures of protein side chains tyrosine, tryptophan, and histidine revealed unequivocal and consistent differences for pH characteristics at the virion surface, while different conformations of two C-S bond configurations in and methionine rotamers provided distinct low-wavenumber fingerprints for different virus lineages/subtypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Health Pract (Oxf)
June 2025
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers, exposing them to unprecedented levels of aggression. Incidents of verbal abuse, threats, and physical assaults have increased, especially in high-stress environments such as emergency departments and intensive care units, exacerbating psychological challenges for healthcare staff. This commentary explores the profound impact of WPV on healthcare workers' mental health and job satisfaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStem Cell Res Ther
January 2025
Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Brazil.
Background: Despite many years of investigation into mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their potential for treating inflammatory conditions such as COVID-19, clinical outcomes remain variable due to factors like donor variability, different tissue sources, and diversity within MSC populations. Variations in MSCs' secretory and proliferation profiles, and their proteomic and transcriptional characteristics significantly influence their therapeutic potency, highlighting the need for enhanced characterization methods to better predict their efficacy. This study aimed to evaluate the biological characteristics of MSCs from different tissue origins, selecting the most promising line for further validation in a K18-hACE2 mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Med Educ
January 2025
School of Dentistry, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, PR China.
Background: Oral general course (OGC) is a basic subject of medical education. The implementation of multidisciplinary team (MDT) meets the individual needs of patients. Based on the concept of MDT, this study combined the theory and practice of flipped classroom teaching method to evaluate the teaching effect, so as to provide a basis and reference for the thinking transformation of medical students to clinicians.
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