Dental professionals have a major role in the fight against the spread and transmission of COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate awareness and practice of dentists in Saudi Arabia regarding COVID-19 and the utilization of infection control methods. A 24-item questionnaire was developed and distributed through social media to 627 dentists working in Saudi Arabia. 177 questionnaires were completed (28.2% response rate). Most dentists were aware about the transmission, incubation time and main clinical symptoms of COVID-19. Almost 83% of the respondents appreciate the risk of droplets, aerosols and airborne particles in transmission of COVID-19 in the dental clinic. Among the common practices of participants are measuring patient’s body temperature before undertaking a dental treatment (88.7%), cleaning the environmental surfaces at the dental clinic after each patient (91.5%) and restriction of dental treatment to emergency cases (82.5%). It seems that practicing dentists in Saudi Arabia are fairly aware about COVID-19. The practices of the surveyed dentists appear to be mostly consistent with the current guidelines and recommendations for infection control of COVID-19 in the dental clinic. Some drawbacks in knowledge and a number of inappropriate practices can be identified and require the attention of health authorities.

AIMS: COVID-19 is a new virus which has spread to most countries in the world. Many papers have been published on the clinical manifestations of this virus. This paper concentrates only on the clinical cases and prognosis of COVID-19 presented in the literature. METHODS: Systematic review is done, and taken into consideration, all published papers in the literature related to COVID-19. Inclusion and exclusion criteria have been applied. RESULTS: Few papers have been determined after many filtrations of all published papers concerning inclusion and exclusion criteria to assess outcome of existing COVID-19. Most published papers or reports did not provide full details for each case. CONCLUSION: Most clinical description data in these reports are so limited and missing some of the critical elements such as the date of infection, source of infection, symptoms, diagnostic criteria, incubation of infection, transmission of infection, number of identified cases after contact with infected patients, and health workers are affected or not by treatment of infected patients, patient age, and type of study. No clear evidence of the treatment plan and the prevention and most data in literature depending on personal experience only which is different from country to others.

Background: It is essential for practicing dentists to have adequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its implications in the dental practice. Their attitudes should also be up to the professional expectations. This study aimed to assess knowledge of HIV/AIDS infection and attitudes towards its patients among dental students in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among a sample of dental students in Saudi Arabia. Twenty questions related to knowledge, attitudes, and oral manifestation of HIV were presented. Results: A total of 405 questionnaires were completed (67% response rate). Participants showed low knowledge of safety regarding HIV (39.5%) and 44.2% indicated that they would take an HIV test after needle stick injury. The proportion of correct answers regarding transmission of HIV through saliva, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and aerosols by hand pieces was 41%, 37.5%, and 26.4%, respectively. Almost 50% of the surveyed dental students expressed unwillingness to treat HIV-positive patients. Poor knowledge was noted regarding oral manifestations of HIV (32.7%). Of the participants, 57.8% indicated that infection control procedures are very important for the treatment of HIV patients and 50.6% believed that a dentist can make a decision to reject the treatment of HIV patients. According to the participating dental students, the three major oral manifestations in HIV patients are hairy leukoplakia (47.4%), oral candidiasis (44.7%), and Kaposi’s sarcoma (43.5%). Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge and unprofessional attitude towards HIV/AIDS patients were identified among this group of dental students in Saudi Arabia. Dental educators and health care planners in Saudi Arabia should plan to promote the knowledge and attitudes of dental students in Saudi Arabia towards the treatment of HIV patients.

Background: Dental implants are considered the first option to replace missing teeth. Alveolar bone resorption gradually progresses following tooth extraction leading to loss of vertical bone dimension for implant placement. The lateral window approach is the most commonly used procedure to treat vertical bone loss. Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the lateral wall thickness (LWT) of the maxillary sinus and determine the influence of gender and side on maxillary LWT. Methods: This study involved a cross sectional retrospective study. Cone- beam computed tomography data were collected from 99 patients with a total of 198 maxillary sinuses that met the inclusion criteria. The patient age ranged from 18 to 35 years. On the selected sagittal section, the points of measurement are determined by a perpendicular line at 5 mm from the lowest point of the sinus floor. Measurements were done at four different areas; first premolar (P1), second premolar (P2), first molar (M1), and second molar (M2). Descriptive statistics were used to calculate mean lateral wall thickness for each tooth, and student’s t-test was used to test the effect of gender and side on maxillary LWT. Results: The greatest mean LWT was observed around the left first maxillary molar (2.43±0.82), while the lowest mean LWT was observed around the right second maxillary premolar (1.62±0.61). There was no significant difference in the LWT around any tooth (M1 p=0.56, M2 p=0.92, P1 p=0.14, P2 p=0.19). Conclusion: There was no significant difference in both males and females of the lateral wall thickness in the left and right side of maxillary sinus.