Introduction: At the time when the world was unprepared for the corona pandemic, the health-care workers faced the challenge with great effort. Recently, the OMICRON has been burdening the medical fraternity. Hence, in our study, we aimed to evaluate the “knowledge, attitude, and practices” related to OMICRON among the medical health-care staff. Materials and Methods: We piloted an online cross-sectional questionnaire study using Google Forms among 1000 medical staff working at various levels of public and private sections. The questions were formulated to test for the practices, attitude, and knowledge of the new variant OMICRON. The data collected were compared using the Chi-square test, deliberating P < 0.05 as significant. Results: We observed that majority were male participants, with significant number at the ages of 20–40 years. There was lower knowledge, although good practice and positive attitude were noted among the medical health staff. Conclusion: The medical health-care personnel possessed less knowledge regarding the new variant OMICRON, although positive practices and attitudes were noted. Hence, the governments should take necessary steps to implement the training about the new variant.

Introduction: Several vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been licensed and are being administered worldwide in various countries. However, the awareness, behaviors, and expectations of COVID-19 vaccines among dental clinic patients are poorly understood. Methods: An e-survey was carried out among 1800 patients who visited dental clinics in India. The survey was carried out using a questionnaire of four parts and informed consent (i.e. sociodemographics, knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions). The investigators used Internet methods for data collection during the pandemic. Results: The mean awareness score was significantly higher among participants who reported having a university/higher level of schooling, being in the upper socioeconomic status community, living in cities, and having previously received all required vaccines. The mean attitude score was slightly higher for participants who reported being female and had a history of getting all required vaccinations. Just over half (52%) of participants felt everyone should be vaccinated. This interpretation was slightly higher among females than males (56.9% vs. 47.9%, P = 0.004). Conclusions: The results indicate that patients attending dental clinics in India have insufficient awareness but more optimistic attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine. Immediate health promotion campaigns must be implemented before vaccine schedules in order to increase awareness.

Introduction: One of the most common procedures done in orthodontics is the rapid maxillary expansion for the treatment of transverse maxillary deficiency. Hence, in the present study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy of the rapid palatal expansion assisted with the miniscrews. Materials and Methods: We piloted a prospective observational study among 50 age-matched adolescent participants. They were grouped equally to receive miniscrew and tooth-borne expanders. The alterations after 6 months of wearing the expanders were calculated for the root length variations of the premolars, tipping of the tooth, buccal bone thickness, and the transverse skeletal widths using the “cone-beam computed tomography” images. Comparison of the values was done between the groups using the Chi-square and ANOVA test, deliberating P < 0.05 as significant. Results: We observed significantly greater values for the miniscrew expander for all the four parameters than the tooth-borne device. However, there was no significant variation for the root lengths variations between the two groups. No tipping was noted for the miniscrew expander. Conclusions: The miniscrew palatal expander brought faster expansion of the palate than the conventional palatal expanders. The miniscrews were also safe with no adverse effects and were efficus.