Proper oral health care has an impact on the health of the entire body. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the functioning of the healthcare sector, including dental services. The aim of this study was to analyse the behaviour of patients with regard to their use of dental services during the pandemic. The data were obtained from paper registration forms taken from five dental offices in the city of Cracow between March 2019 and February 2021. During the analysed periods, interest among first-time patients in dental services decreased to 37% (during the month when interest in dental services was at its lowest) compared to the year preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of cancelled visits increased by between 15% and 50% compared to the pre-pandemic period. During the pandemic, appointments made by existing patients increased by up to 84% compared to 2019. The decision by patients to postpone dental treatment not only has adverse effects on their oral and body health, but in turn results in higher health care costs. Given the potential for another pandemic, further long-term research is required to develop and implement special protocols to make the public aware of the safety of health care.

Inflammatory conditions of dental origin may spread to the bone tissue, causing its destruction, and to anatomical structures located in the vicinity of the tooth affected with inflammation. Maxillary premolars and molars may develop inflammatory lesions of the Schneiderian membrane and lead to tooth-borne lesions in the maxillary sinuses. Unilateral inflammation of the maxillary sinuses should be diagnosed and treated. The aim of this study was to determine whether and after what time from the applied endodontic or nonsurgical periodontal treatment the inflammation in the maxillary sinus was diminished (assessed by the decrease in the Schneiderian membrane hypertrophy). A retrospective study was performed to analyze the records of endodontically, periodontally, or endodontically-periodontally treated patients with unilateral inflammation of the maxillary sinuses along with diagnostic Cone Beam Computed Tomography. The method for determination of the inflammation was measurements registered in millimeters in Carestream software. The analysis included the situation before treatment and 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after completion of the treatment. Regardless of the origin of the maxillary sinus lesion, healing of inflammation of the sinus has been reported after the implementation of causative treatment of the maxillary tooth. Dental treatment reduces the need to implement conservative or surgical ENT treatment.

Tele-dentistry is a rapidly growing field, especially in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote services are of increasing interest to both patients and dental personnel. They allow for reduced person-to-person contact and thus a reduced risk of transmission of the SARS-CoV2 virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the functioning of all areas of life, including dental treatment. The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of using tele-dentistry for dental services and analyse the attitudes of patients and dentists towards this solution. The period analysed was between March 2019 and February 2021 in five healthcare entities in Cracow in Central Europe. The study’s retrospective analysis shows a positive attitude of patients towards tele-dentistry at every stage of treatment, from diagnosis through postoperative care, and a significant reluctance of dentists in the majority of dental specialties towards tele-dentistry. Consequently, a significant percentage of patients were invited to dental offices for a face-to-face appointment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative attitude of dental personnel towards tele-dentistry compared with the positive attitude of patients towards tele-dentistry is somewhat worrying in view of the possibility of a further pandemic. At the same time, it provides important information about the need to educate and support dental personnel in tele-dental solutions and improve solutions for the future. Taking into account the potential reduction in dental care costs for patients and countries after the implementation of tele-dentistry solutions, this is an important topic, while current studies do not comprehensively address the attitudes of patients and dental personnel towards tele-dentistry. In other parts of the world, a similar approach to tele-dentistry is used by patients and dentists.

Objective The goal of primary and secondary endodontic treatment is to eliminate the cause of inflammation inside the tooth and in the surrounding tissues. When the inflammation from the root canal system of the tooth spreads beyond the apex of the root, periapical changes in the bone tissue and, in the case of upper premolars and molars, inflammatory changes in the Schneider membrane may occur. Materials and Methods In a retrospective documentation analysis of root canal treatments, three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography images before and after endodontic treatment were assessed to measure the thickness of the Schneider membrane. Forty-five endodontically treated patients aged 21 to 62 years were enrolled in the study. Inflammation of the maxillary sinus was considered when the Schneider membrane was thicker than 2 mm. Statistical analyses were performed with Statistica 12 by StatSoft and StatXact by Cytel using the Shapiro–Wilk test, Student's t-test, and the Mann–Whitney test. Results Out of 12 comparisons between variables, only 3 comparisons were significant. There was a relationship between the treatment effect (reduction in maxillary sinus inflammation 3 months after treatment) and the maximum height of the Schneider membrane (p = 0.004). There was a relationship between the presence of a periapical lesion and the minimum height of the Schneider diaphragm (p = 0.02), and there was a relationship between the presence of a periapical lesion and the maximum height of the Schneider diaphragm (p = 0.04). Conclusion Primary and secondary root canal treatments of maxillary premolars and molars reduce the inflammation of the maxillary sinus 3 months after treatment.