Background: Environment, peer-groups, and salespersons influence consumers' purchasing decisions regarding oral hygiene products. Other influences include various cultural, social, demographic, and socioeconomic factors. This study was designed to determine factors motivating and influencing consumers while choosing oral hygiene aids. Methods: 410 patients (age, 10-70 years), who visited the outpatient department of Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex, Lahore, Pakistan, were subjected to a close-ended questionnaire survey. Factors investigated included cost, packaging, media advertisement, perceptions, and previous experiences. Results: The cost of oral-hygiene products (82%) were the biggest influence. Advertisements influenced 55% of consumers in their purchase decisions regarding oral hygiene products. Reason for product use was disease prevention (58.7%) and freshness of breath (31%). Logistically, females were significantly 0.66 times less likely to be affected by media advertisements. Low income and occupations were 2.27 times more likely to be influenced by advertisements. Price was not significant meaning all categories were influenced by price equally. Conclusion: Consumers' choices of oral hygiene products were influenced by information available through mass media and the products' cost-effectiveness. Dentists should be aware of these influences and should accordingly advise their patients considering their needs and influencing factors.

BackgroundOro-facial clefts (OFCs) are formed due to a combination of genetic factors and environmental factors. Treatment is usually extensive and lasts till adult age. The treatment also includes a large portion of dental rehabilitation. ObjectiveThis study aims to look at the different dental anomalies associated with OFCs. MethodsA total of 100 participants with OFCs were randomly selected from Clap centre Lahore. They were categorized into cleft lip (CL), cleft palate (CP), and both. Dental anomalies were recorded clinically and family history for OFCs was also recorded. ResultsOut of the 100 participants, 15 had CL only, 37 had a CP, and 48 had both CL and CP. Missing teeth and hypodontia were significantly associated with all OFCs (p-value > 0.05). Supernumerary teeth were only significantly associated with CP (p-value: 0.04). Other dental anomalies were not significant for OFCs. ConclusionOFCs in all its three forms are associated with dental irregularities. They can either be missing teeth or extra teeth. There is a strong need for dentists to be a part of the treatment planning of OFCs and to treat dental anomalies alongside the clefts.

Stress can contribute to or influence the development of psychological disorders like depression and anxiety, as well as physiological issues like high blood pressure and slow wound healing. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of stress and its oral and physical manifestations in medical, dental, and engineering students of Pakistan. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out in Rashid Latif Medical Complex and Clapp trust Lahore, Pakistan. The study included 326 male and female students from medical, dentistry, and engineering universities. Results: The majority of them were females 68.7% as compared to males 31.3%. The mean age of the students was 21.9±4.17 years. The persistent headache had the highest frequency among physical problems due to stress with 84.5% of the participants responding. In a comparative analysis, the t-test showed gender to be significant for disturbed sleep, difficulty breathing persistent headaches, and muscular pains while the ANOVA test showed a significant association of age with weight gain, pain in TMJ, and ulcers in the oral cavity. Regression analysis showed a significant relationship between weight gain and age. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the stress of studying is making students more susceptible to problems with their physical and oral health, which is lowering their quality of life.

Background. The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with the provision of multiple guidelines for the dental profession. All elective procedures were restricted, and only emergency procedures were performed. There was fear and anxiety among dentists while performing aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs), as they were considered to pose a high risk of COVID-19 transmission.Objectives. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during AGPs, and to examine the association between risk severity and the number of AGPs performed per day. The efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) was also assessed. Material and methods.This cross-sectional cohort study was based on an online questionnaire form completed by 629 general and specialized dentists between January 1 and February 28, 2021. The collected data referred to the sources of COVID-19 infection, the type of PPE used and the number of AGPs performed each day by dental healthcare professionals (DHCPs). For each question, the absolute numbers of responses as well as percentages were calculated.Results. Among the 629 DHCPs, 113 (17.97%) contracted COVID-19. The risk of contracting COVID-19 during AGPs was the same as in the case of non-AGPs, and the infection risk was not associated with the number of AGPs performed per day. The efficacy of a surgical mask with a face shield/eye goggles was higher in comparison with all other types of PPE. Differences in the infection risk across the different types of PPE used were statistically significant (p < 0.001).Conclusions. The risk of COVID-19 transmission during AGPs is the same as in the case of non-AGPs. Thus, restrictions on the performance of elective AGPs should be lifted. On the other hand, the best protection during AGPs is provided by a surgical mask with a face shield/eye goggles.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected dentistry. Dental procedures are considered one of the modes of transfer of COVID-19 infection due to generation of aerosols. To prevent transmission of this virus through dental procedures, guidelines were issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ministry of Health of each country. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to establish a safe protocol for performing dental procedures in a crisis capacity situation of personal protective equipment (PPE). METHODS: A strategy for performing the dental procedures was formulated in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health, Pakistan before vaccination of HCPs against COVID-19. These guidelines also accorded the strategies provided by the WHO and CDC. 40 health care professionals (HCPs) participated in the study and were divided in two groups. Group A performed non-aerosol generating procedures (non- AGPs) and group B performed aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). A total of 6372 aerosol generating procedures were performed from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021. The safety of this protocol was established by the number of HCPs contracting COVID-19 infection. RESULTS: Only 1 HCP contracted COVID-19 infection or reported any symptoms preceding the AGPs from group B following the formulated strategy. CONCLUSION: Reported strategy based on the dental system in Pakistan is considered safe to be implemented worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.