This literature research had two main objectives. The first objective was to quantify how frequently artificial intelligence (AI) was utilized in dental literature from 2011 until 2021. The second objective was to distinguish the focus of such publications; in particular, dental field and topic. The main inclusion criterium was an original article or review in English focused on dental utilization of AI. All other types of publications or non-dental or non-AI-focused were excluded. The information sources were Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, queried on 19 April 2022. The search string was “artificial intelligence” AND (dental OR dentistry OR tooth OR teeth OR dentofacial OR maxillofacial OR orofacial OR orthodontics OR endodontics OR periodontics OR prosthodontics). Following the removal of duplicates, all remaining publications were returned by searches and were screened by three independent operators to minimize the risk of bias. The analysis of 2011–2021 publications identified 4413 records, from which 1497 were finally selected and calculated according to the year of publication. The results confirmed a historically unprecedented boom in AI dental publications, with an average increase of 21.6% per year over the last decade and a 34.9% increase per year over the last 5 years. In the achievement of the second objective, qualitative assessment of dental AI publications since 2021 identified 1717 records, with 497 papers finally selected. The results of this assessment indicated the relative proportions of focal topics, as follows: radiology 26.36%, orthodontics 18.31%, general scope 17.10%, restorative 12.09%, surgery 11.87% and education 5.63%. The review confirms that the current use of artificial intelligence in dentistry is concentrated mainly around the evaluation of digital diagnostic methods, especially radiology; however, its implementation is expected to gradually penetrate all parts of the profession.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing with biocompatible resins offers new competition to its opposition—subtractive manufacturing, which currently dominates in dentistry. Removing dental material layer-by-layer with lathes, mills or grinders faces its limits when it comes to the fabrication of detailed complex structures. The aim of this original research was to design, materialize and clinically evaluate a functional and resilient shape of the orthodontic power-arm by means of biocompatible 3D printing. To improve power-arm resiliency, we have employed finite element modelling and analyzed stress distribution to improve the original design of the power-arm. After 3D printing, we have also evaluated both designs clinically. This multidisciplinary approach is described in this paper as a feasible workflow that might inspire application other individualized biomechanical appliances in orthodontics. The design is a biocompatible power-arm, a miniature device bonded to a tooth surface, translating significant bio-mechanical force vectors to move a tooth in the bone. Its design must be also resilient and fully individualized to patient oral anatomy. Clinical evaluation of the debonding rate in 50 randomized clinical applications for each power-arm-variant showed significantly less debonding incidents in the improved power-arm design (two failures = 4%) than in the original variant (nine failures = 18%).

This paper introduces a novel method of 3D designing and 3D printing of a hybrid orthodontic tooth-borne personalized distalizer for treatment of unilateral Class II malocclusion. Research objectives were to clinically utilize 3D printed distalizers, appraise feasibility of this technique and compare two different biocompatible photopolymers (white and transparent). Frequency of distalizers’ debonding and patients’ aesthetical perception was evaluated on the set of 12 complete orthodontic treatments. The mean duration of treatment period with a bonded distalizer was 6.4 months. All cases were adults with unilateral Class II malocclusion managed with a hybrid approach as a part of Invisalign® comprehensive treatment. Results showed that such perspective practice is feasible for 3D design and in-office 3D printing of a personalized distalizer. Results also showed no clinically significant differences between both studied biopolymers. The paper discusses an evaluation of such personalized distalizer functionality with regard to the current state of the art and compares to conventional prefabricated alternatives like a Carriere® Distalizer™ appliance. Research showed a preference of patients towards transparent biocompatible photopolymer instead of the white A2 shade. The paper concludes that additive manufacturing from dental resins is a viable method in personalization and in-office 3D printing of orthodontic auxiliaries, particularly distalizers. New materials for orthodontic 3D printing endow enhanced individualization, thus more efficient treatment.

Despite the fact that saliva contains measurable concentrations of urea and creatinine, it is not widely used in clinical nephrology. One of the reasons is the high inter‐ and intra‐individual variability in the salivary markers of kidney function. We hypothesized that gingival bleeding in patients with periodontitis could contribute to this variability by increasing the concentration of salivary urea or creatinine. Samples were collected from 25 patients with periodontitis and 29 healthy controls. In addition, saliva samples from five healthy volunteers were artificially contaminated with blood. The concentration of urea, but not that of creatinine, was more than twice as high in patients with periodontitis than in controls. Artificial contamination of saliva with blood did not affect the salivary concentration of creatinine. Salivary urea increased only with very high levels of contamination (≥2.5% blood in saliva), but that did not occur in patients. In conclusion, periodontitis increases the concentration of salivary urea, but this is not likely to be a result of contamination with blood. Future studies should investigate the composition of the oral microbiome, specifically regarding how it affects the concentration of salivary urea. Salivary creatinine seems to be a more robust non‐invasive marker of renal functions than salivary urea.

With the arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5), dentistry faces another seasonal challenge to preserve the biosafety of dental care and education. With the aim of protecting patients, students, teachers and healthcare professionals, this paper introduces a prospective sustainable biosafety setting for everyday dental care and education. The setting developed by dental clinicians, epidemiologists, and teachers of dentistry consists of a combination of modern technologies focused on the air-borne part of the viral pathway. The introduced biosafety setting has been clinically evaluated after 18 months of application in the real clinical environment. The protocol has three fundamental pillars: (1) UVC air disinfection; (2) air saturation with certified virucidal essences with nebulizing diffusers; (3) complementary solutions including telehealth and 3D printing. A pseudonymous online smart form was used as the evaluation method. The protocol operates on the premise that everybody is a hypothetical asymptomatic carrier. The results of a clinical evaluation of 115 patient feedbacks imply that no virus transmission from patient to patient or from doctor to nurse was observed or reported using this protocol, and vice versa, although nine patients retrospectively admitted that the clinic visit is likely to be infectious. Despite these promising results, a larger clinical sample and exposition to the current mutated strains are needed for reliable conclusions about protocol virucidal efficiency in current dental environments.