Objectives A multicentre survey was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on dental practice worldwide, estimate the COVID-19 related symptoms/signs, work attitudes and behaviour and the routine use of protective measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods A global survey using a standardized questionnaire with research groups from 36 countries was designed. The questionnaire was developed and pretested during April 2020 and contained three domains: 1) personal data; 2) COVID-19 positive rate and symptoms/signs presumably related to the coronavirus; 3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak. Countries’ data were grouped by the country positive rate (CPR) during the survey period and by Gross-National-Income per capita. An ordinal multinomial logistic regression model was carried out with COVID-19 self-reported rate referred by dental professionals as dependent variable to assess the association with questionnaire items. Results A total of 52,491 questionnaires were returned with a male/female ratio of 0.63. Out of the total respondents, 7,859 dental professionals (15%) reported symptoms/signs compatible with COVID-19. More than half of the sample (n=27,818; 53%) stated to use FFP2/N95 masks, while 21,558 (41.07%) used eye protection. In the bivariate analysis, CPR and N95/FFP2 were significantly associated (OR=1.80 95% CI=1.60/2.82 and OR=5.20 95% CI=1.44/18.80, respectively), while Gross-National-Income was not statistically associated with CPR (OR=1.09 95% CI=0.97/1.60). The same significant associations were observed in the multivariate analysis . Conclusions Oral health service provision has not been significantly affected by COVID-19, although access to routine dental care was reduced due to country-specific temporary lockdown periods. While the dental profession has been identified at high-risk, the reported rates of COVID-19 for dental professionals were not significantly different to those reported for the general population in each country. These findings may help to better plan oral health care for future pandemic events.

Prevalence of early childhood caries in children under 6 years old, living in marginal communities in the north of Lima ABSTRACT Early childhood caries is a preventable public health problem and affects a large number of children. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of dental caries in children 6-71 months of poor urban communities of Lima. Three hundred thirty two children were evaluated with the criteria of WHO's dental caries, with non-invasive equipment, natural light, with knee-knee technique for children. A calibration of dental caries was carried out with participation of 3 dentists (kappa interexaminer kappa 0.79-0.92 and 0.81 to 0.93 Intra). The results showed a prevalence of dental caries of 62.3% (CI 57.09 to 67.51), with an age dependent increase: 10.5% (0-11 months), 27.3% (12 to 23 months), 60.0% (24-35 months), 65.5% (36-47 months), 73.4% (48-59 months) and 86.9% (60-71 months). The mean deft index was 2.97 (SD 3.48), the decayed component represented 99.9% of the index. The parts most affected in the maxilla were the central incisors and first molars, while in the lower jaw was the first and second molar. Active white spots were most prevalent during the first years of life. We conclude that there is a high burden of disease and increased as they get older being necessary to create models of early intervention with specialists in the area.

La pérdida precoz de dientes deciduos es un problema común en odontopediatría y puede estar asociada a traumas en la región anterior a caries de infancia temprana (CIT), erupción ectópica entre otras y puede acarrear daño oclusal y otras secuelas estético-funcionales indeseables. La confección de un aparato mantenedor de espacio estético-funcional, es una de las opciones de tratamiento más utilizadas en este tipo de casos. Dentro de los principales aparatos mantenedores de espacio se encuentra la prótesis parcial anterior de sistema tubo-barra tipo Denari, entre las indicaciones de este, está la recuperación funcional, fonética y estética a fin de prevenir trastornos emocionales en los niños, mejorar el aspecto social y preservar las dimensiones correctas de la arcada, evitando desarmonías oclusales. Este relato de caso clínico muestra la importancia del mantenedor estéticofuncional, su correcta confección y aplicación clínica en la primera infancia, orientando a los profesionales que atienden pacientes pediátricos.

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