Tooth loss is physically and emotionally a traumatizing event as it gives a feeling of being handicapped just as any other part of the body. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge among dental patients regarding options and benefits of dental prosthesis. Moreover, it was also focused to analyze the level of awareness among patients regarding the consequences of non-replacement of missing teeth. Methods: A cross sectional qualitative descriptive study was conducted among general dental patients visiting University Dental Hospital (UDH), University of Lahore, who have undergone extraction and willing for rehabilitation. The sampling was done with non-probability purposive sampling technique. A self-structured questionnaire with 24 close ended questions was used. Questionnaire was divided into two sections; Section A consists of 9 questions regarding patient’s demographic data and section B comprised of 15 close ended questions regarding patient’s chief presenting complaint leading to dental extraction and prosthesis preference. Results: Majority of the patients (43%) revealed that pain was the main reason for extraction. A major bulk of the patients (37%) opted rehabilitation of missing teeth to attain masticatory efficiency. Patients who were aware of the consequences of non-restoration of missing teeth (60%) outnumbered those who were not having this awareness. Majority of the respondents (37%) preferred fixed prosthesis as a replacement option. Conclusion: Dentists play a very vital role in oral-dental rehabilitation of the patients therefore restoring a healthy mind within a healthy body. The majority of the patients are keen on getting missing teeth replaced mainly for comfortable mastication.

Modern breakthroughs significantly improve life span and quality. Conducting research should be viewed as crucial to medical education. Critical thinking and reasoning abilities must be developed if dental practitioners are to embrace a positive viewpoint of scientific study. Therefore, efforts are being made for graduate dentists to bridge gap between understanding research process and its components. Objectives: To determine how well dental graduates understood key elements of research process. Decisions and curriculum changes for bettering knowledge and conducting research could be made using study's findings. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed and conducted among house officers of University Dental Hospital, University of Lahore. Self-administered questionnaire was designed and circulated among various dental schools in area. For data analysis, SPSS Version 25.0 was used. Results: Total of 161 participants took part in current study out of which majority (n=107, 66.4%) were females and minority (n=54, 44.6%) were males with the age group lying between 23-25 years. Bulk of study participants (n= 53, 32.9%) rarely had any experience in research. Participants indicated that they were knowledgeable about research and its components, scoring 48% fair, 16% good, and 6% excellent, although 30% of them showed inadequate understanding. Conclusions: The majority of dental graduates believed they had poor to fair knowledge of how to plan, carry out, and write a research project

Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the association between practicing COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with age, gender, educational status, and prevalence of signs & symptoms in patients visiting the outpatient department of University Dental Hospital (UDH). Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study with non-probability convenient sampling was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire to determine the association between COVID-19 SOPs with signs & symptoms evaluated during the screening of the selected representative population. SPSS version 25 was used for statistical analysis. Results: In public places, Group D (50-69 years) and female gender group displayed the highest percentage of conformity with combination-2 (FM+HS) of SOPs. Same was true for individuals with post graduate education. However, in work places Group A (20-29 years) exhibited maximum abidance with combination-2, a trend that was visible amongst females and post graduate students in a work/institutional setting. Similarly, in hospital settings Group A and female gender group observed combination-2 of SOPs to the greatest extent. The same trend was observed amongst higher than bachelor level education holders. The uneducated and middle-level educational group chose a single SOP of FM, while the rest of the educational groups utilized a mix of FM, HS, and SD. Males showed greater compliance with FM only. Conclusion: It was divulged that the population following single COVID-19 SOP was at a greater risk to experience COVID-19 symptoms in comparison to those who followed combination-1(HS+FM) and combination-2(HS+FM+SD) of SOPs.

In clinical settings, dentists frequently come across patients with variable oral health literacy, and they are not always able to tell which patients might comprehend with health-related explanations and instructions. Objective: To calculate oral health literacy level of patients reporting for dental treatment and correlation of the aforementioned with patients’ decision-making capacity regarding dental treatment. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with a pilot study on 60 patients in University Dental Hospital, University of Lahore through non-probability purposive sampling technique. Sample of 200 patients was collected over a period of five months (June 2022-October 2022). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Study was divided into two phases; in Phase I, REALD-30 scale was used. Phase-II involved individuals scoring 11-30 points on REALD-30 scale and who had to complete a self-administered 5-point Likert scale questionnaire with eleven closed-ended items in order to determine their level of decision-making. Results: Study revealed that there was significant association between Oral Health Literacy Level with getting prior information concerning dental issue (p=0.032), ability to appraise the decided treatment plan (p=0.033) and opinion regarding follow up visits (p=0.026). Conclusions: The results of the current study revealed a tenuous link between education, employment position, oral health literacy, and decision-making regarding dental treatment strategy. Effective patient-dentist communication generates strong link between the two leading to compliance of patients with treatment plan suggested by experts

Aim: To analyze the level of awareness, knowledge and attitude towards bioethics among dental professionals and practical implementation of bioethical principles in their dental practice.. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional, pre-validated questionnaire based research was conducted at four dental teaching institutions of Lahore, Pakistan. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used. Results: Majority of the respondents 167(60.7%) were graduates having desirable knowledge and awareness of term “BIOETHICS”. It was appreciative that contributors had a positive perspective about the role of bioethics and have accepted its worth in their daily lives. A greater proportion 117(50.9%) of the participants gave opinion that full description of risks and benefits should be stated in informed consent. The fact that most of the respondents are dedicated to learn more about bioethics was endured out by present data as 224(81.5%) were of the opinion that bioethics should be a part of curriculum at undergraduate level. The survey specified that organ donation and abortion are considered as most critical bioethical issues. Conclusion: Dental fraternity has a fair knowledge of term ‘Bioethics’ and trend is seen towards practical implementation of principles of bioethics. Many domains of bioethics are still under debate because responses were influenced by cultural and religious norms. There is a dire need of development of innovative educational initiatives of ethics related to clinical/ technical issues, practice management, and social/ civic controversies. Keywords: Bioethics, Practical Implementation, Bioethical principles, Human rights, Confidentiality