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Background Pain control during dental procedures is one of the most important topics related to behavior management in children. This study aims to compare the pain perception associated with a needle-free system (Comfort-In™) and the dental needle method during filling and pulpotomy treatments in children. Methods The study included teeth that required treatment (pulpotomy or filling treatment) in 56 patients aged 4 to 11 years with no systemic problems or history of allergy. Patients were randomly divided into the needle-free system group (filling treatment, n = 13; pulpotomy, n = 15) and dental needle method group (filling treatment, n = 14; pulpotomy, n = 14). For pulpotomy and filling treatment performed with 0.3 mL anesthesia, the active ingredient of which is 2% lidocaine and 1/80000 epinephrine. The patients’ behavior before the procedure was evaluated by a pediatric dentist using the Frankl Behavior Scale. The pain intensity was assessed Immediately after injection (induction), during treatment (treatment), and at the end of the treatment (post treatment) by the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale. Results The median (IQR-InterQuartile Range) induction pain value was 6[3-8] and 2[0-4] in dental needle method and needle-free system respectively, p < 0.001). In filling and pulpotomy treatment group, no difference between the needle and needle-free group for treatment and post-treatment pain values. Conclusions For pulpotomy and filling treatment, needle-free system performed with 0.3 mL anesthesia was found as effective as infiltrative anesthesia with a dental needle method. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04653974. Registered 4 December 2020 – Retrospectively registered.

Background Toothache is a common consequence of untreated caries, predisposed by poor oral hygiene and high caries risk. Most children expressed their pain through their parents or carers. The aim of this study was to determine the colour of pain presence and absence. Methods Patients aged between 4 and 14 and referred to a dentist for the first time due to toothache had a short-term pain of 1 month caused by deep cavities. The children chose paintings from the box of 24 standard colours (Crayola, Spain) and the circles were painted. Pain was rated by children on the Visual Analoge Scale. Normality and variance were tested using the one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Associations were performed by using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Analyses were completed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) version 20.0 program. Results A total of 147 patients including 78 girls (53.1%) and 69 boys (46.9%) were included in the study. The principal component analysis showed that red has the highest factor loading in children with pain, whereas yellow was the other highest one in children without pain. Conclusion The presence of pain was mainly associated with red, and the absence of pain was associated with yellow in Turkish population. Description of pain with colour can be useful tool to recognize the children and to improve dentist-patient or dentist-parents communication.

Background Reasons such as the lack of information on the COVID-19 disease, lack of proven treatment for it, uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic, or social isolation affect people’s mental health. This study aimed to analyze the emotional type and intensity in tweets on toothache posted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Using the Twitter Search API, we collected tweets in English associated with the keywords “Corona, Toothache” “Corona, Tooth, Pain” “Corona, Dental Pain” “Covid-19, Toothache” “Covid-19, Tooth, Pain” and “Covid-19, Dental Pain” posted between March 11, 2020 and June 30, 2020 all around the world. After the relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 426 posts were selected and analyzed using the CrystalFeel algorithm, a sensitivity analytical technology with proven accuracy. The chi-square test (SPSS v23, IBM) was used to compare emotions and emotional intensities according to the words used. Results It was determined that 80.3% of the participants experienced fear and 61.7% had a negative emotional intensity. There was no statistically significant difference between the distributions of emotions according to the words without time distinction (p = 0.136). There was a statistically significant difference between the distributions of emotional intensity according to the words without time distinction (p = 0.006). The keyword “Corona, Toothache” was used the most frequently by 30.8% of the participants. Conclusions This study is the first to analyze the emotional reactions of individuals who experienced toothaches during the COVID-19 pandemic using the CrystalFeel algorithm. Monitoring the social media posts of individuals experiencing toothache during the pandemic will help reduce fear and anger emotions and design public information messages that are compatible with the target group’s needs.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of congenital absence of permanent teeth other than third molar teeth in non-syndromic children in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Regions of Turkey, and the correlation between gender and distribution sites in the jaws. Material and Methods: Panoramic radiographs and clinical records of 9831 children (5025 girls, 4806 boys) in the Mediterranean Region and 11372 children (5540 girls, 5832 boys) in the Black Sea region were examined. All panoramic radiographs were evaluated by a dentist. The permanent tooth, which was not seen in radiography, was recorded as a congenitally missing tooth, and the fact that the tooth was not extracted was confirmed by treatment records. The data were statistically evaluated by Chi-Square and t-test. Results: The prevalence of congenitally missing permanent teeth was 2.8% (3.52% in girls, 2.5% in boys) in the Mediterranean region and 1.63% (1.82% in girls and 1.45% in boys) in the Black Sea region. Congenitally missing permanent teeth were observed more in the maxilla compared to mandible. The teeth that most frequently have congenitally missing permanent teeth in the Mediterranean Region are mandibular second premolars, maxillary lateral incisors and maxillary second premolars, respectively. The teeth that most frequently have congenitally missing permanent teeth in the Black Sea region are mandibular second premolars, maxillary second premolars and maxillary lateral incisors, respectively. Most of the patients had one or two teeth missing, and the lack of three or more teeth was rare. Conclusion: In this study, which is performed in different climatic characteristics of Black Sea and Mediterranean Regions, the frequency of congenitally missing teeth is similar.