No abstract

While clinical indicators, or so-called surrogate outcomes in periodontology, allow us to assess periodontal health and evaluate outcomes of periodontal therapy from a clinician's perspective, they cannot be used to evaluate patients' subjective perceptions of their health status or satisfaction with the received treatment. These can be assessed through patient-based outcomes, such as quality of life. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the multidimensional concept of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), its measures and association with plaque-induced, inflammatory periodontal diseases. Periodontitis and its clinical consequences, such as tooth loss, have a considerable negative effect on OHRQoL, while periodontal treatment and alleviation of the symptoms can lead to improvement in OHRQoL. Implant rehabilitation of missing teeth also seems to positively influence OHRQoL.

Purpose: Dental education institutions worldwide experienced disruptive changes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a rapid switch to the online learning format. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental education and evaluates the perceptions and attitudes of students towards the introduction of online learning in the School of Dental Medicine in Zagreb, Croatia. Methods: A survey was conducted on a population of undergraduate students. It was comprised of perceptions and attitudes of students on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their psychoemotional status, changes introduced in the educational system, and online learning in particular. Results: Of the 352 students that completed the survey, 66.2% of students reported being psychoemotionally affected by the lockdown. The most significant impact of the switch from in-person to online learning was observed in terms of missing contact with lecturers (60.3%) and peers (90.3%) and loss of practical courses, regarding which 65% of students agreed that they could not be compensated. While only 36.1% reported that online teaching fully met their expectations, the majority of the students (61.9%) agreed that online lectures were as valuable as in-person lectures and that the theoretical courses could be carried out online in the future as well (69.9%). Conclusions: Students reported relative satisfaction with changes in the learning format and a positive attitude towards online learning; however, several challenges and obstacles were identified.

Aim To investigate the effect of rehabilitation in fully/partially edentulous patients with stage IV periodontitis on oral‐health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) and systemic health. Materials and methods A systematic electronic and manual search was conducted. Three authors independently reviewed, selected, and extracted the data. Outcomes were OHRQoL (Oral Health Impact Profile 14 [OHIP‐14] and OHIP‐49, General Oral Health Assessment Index [GOHAI], visual analogue scale, symptoms registration) and systemic health‐related outcomes (incidence and prevalence of systemic diseases, values of systemic disease indicators). Qualitative data were synthesized for OHRQoL and systemic health‐related outcomes. Meta‐analysis was conducted on available quantitative data. Results The search identified 59 articles (6724 subjects in total). OHRQoL improved across all the studies, irrespective of the number of missing teeth, their location, or treatment modality. Meta‐analysis showed significant improvement of OHIP‐49 (36.86, p < .01) in manuscripts including subjects affected by periodontitis, consistently with the remaining literature (reduction of score points post rehabilitation: OHIP‐14 = 10.52, OHIP‐49 = 56.02, GOHAI = 5.40, p < .01 for all). Non‐rehabilitated subjects exhibited inferior cognitive status, higher medication intake, and frailty. However, our data are limited and should be interpreted with caution. Conclusions Oral rehabilitation improves OHRQoL and, potentially, systemic health in edentulous patients. It is unclear whether these findings may be extrapolated to patients with stage IV periodontitis.

Background: Burning mouth syndrome is a condition of unknown etiology, characterized by burning symptoms on the otherwise clinically healthy oral mucosa. Central and/or peripheral neuropathy is one of the proposed causes for this condition. Psychological component in these patients is also very present, as it is known that BMS patients exhibit high levels of pain, anxiety, and depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety and depression among patients with burning mouth syndrome and a control group. We also further review and discuss the literature available on this subject. Subjects and methods: A total of 93 subjects, divided into two groups, participated in this study. The group of patients with BMS included 43 participants, while the control group consisted of 50 participants. Self-reported STAI (State anxiety and Trait anxiety) and BDI questionnaires were used to evaluate anxiety and depression in subjects in both groups. Results: BMS group had higher average total scores of state anxiety, trait anxiety and depression. The difference between the BMS group and control group was statistically significant for state anxiety scores and BDI scores. Conclusion: We might conclude that BMS patients are more anxious (state) and depressed when compared with the control group. However, they do not differ from the control group regarding anxiety as a trait. Thus we might conclude that feeling of anxiety in general starts after the BMS symptoms first occur and last for a longer period of time.