Background. In the modern tech-savvy era, scientific literature publication remains the optimal way to disperse knowledge, even if it has transformed from print to mostly electronic. With the new and improved publication methods, also come more scrutiny and analytic criticism of the scientific work. It becomes even more important in this context to rectify flawed scientific work responsibly. This present study was undertaken to help clarify the process and causes of retractions occurring in the dental community and analyse its reasons. Methodology. A total of 8092 PubMed indexed articles were scanned from the online libraries, and individually scanning for author details, place of study, subspecialty of research, funding, dates of original publication, and retraction notices issued along with journal specifics such as type and impact factors, country of publishing was compiled and analysed by two authors. The dataset was then collaboratively analysed using Panda’s Library in Python software as an analysis tool for data preparation and for frequency analysis. The estimates were presented as mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results. The present study had a compiled dataset of 198 articles after screening and revealed that maximum retractions of dentistry-related research originated from India (25.3%) and, on average, took 2.6 years to be issued a retraction notice. We also deciphered that the USA retracted maximum dental articles (34.8%), and plagiarism was cited as the most common (38.02%) reason for doing so. The present study also brought to light that there was a trend for lower impact factor-dental journals in retracting maximum articles, most of which were nonfunded (62.16%). The results signify that 63.78% of all retracted papers continued to be cited postretractions. Conclusions. The retractions happening in the field of dental literature are currently too time-consuming and often unclear to the readers. The authors would like to conclude that the retracted papers were mostly from India and Spain mostly related to endodontics or prosthodontic research. All of this warrants the need for better scrutiny and reforms in the area.

Background: The advent of technology in dentistry compels the safeguard of intellectual property to guarantee a steady flow of ideas. A guarantee preserves the idea/invention which is conductive to the subsequent financial gain or marketing of the said product for the patentee. The main objective of the present study was to illuminate the trends in the dental patents filed in India over the past decade and to analyze these in context with the recent developments in dental markets. Methodology: A total of 641 dental patent applications retrieved from the Indian Government Official Website between 2010 and 2020 were scanned for field of invention, type or status of application along with details regarding date of publication or filing of application, etc., The dataset was collaboratively analyzed using Panda's Library in Python software as analysis tool for data preparation and frequency analysis. The estimates were presented as mean differences and 95% confidence intervals. Results: The results showed that Indian Patent Office (IPO) has granted 54 dental patents in the last decade. The maximum applications of the IPO processes are the patent co-operation treaty National Phase applications (53.3%), mostly in the bio-engineering field (36.8%). Chiefly, patents were filed by individuals and companies (n = 180) and average time for grant was 4.90 years and 5.34 years, respectively. Conclusion: The process of patent application in India although has become digitalized needs to be more comprehensible and time bound, with more awareness disseminated to entrepreneurs and dental students alike.

ObjectiveSalivation is a double-edged sword. It is desired for its protective function to the oral structures but undesirable due to the need for isolation during dental procedures. Atropine sulphate drops are known to decrease salivary secretion due to their muscarinic antagonistic activity. The present study was undertaken to quantitatively assess decrease in salivary secretion in children post administration of atropine sulphate drops sublingually, during routine dental procedures.MethodsA total of 60 children between the ages of 7–17 years were divided into two groups. Case group was given atropine sulphate drops sublingually in a dose dependent manner and control group received distilled water in a similarly calculated dose. The stimulated and unstimulated salivary flow rate was quantitatively assessed at three-time intervals (0min, 60 min and 90mins) along with the heart rate and blood pressures.ResultsIt was found that the unstimulated salivary flow rates in case group dropped by 80.3% and stimulated flow rates reduced by 79.4% in 90 minutes. The study also showed that time of onset of action was within 60 minutes and effect lasted beyond 90 minutes.ConclusionsThe present study translated into proving that the dose administered was adequate to elicit the antisialogogue effect via chosen route in children and the duration of effect was adequate for routine dental procedures.Clinical RelevanceThe duration of effect of atropine drops, the route of administration, and reversibility of effect in children can be interpreted as adopting the said drug as an adjunct to conventional saliva control measures.Trial RegistrationThe present study bearing CTRI number – CTRI/2020/05/025447 was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry- India under ICMR – National Institute of Medical Statistics on 29/05/2020 prospectively.