Purpose/Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic arguably represents the worst public health crisis of the 21st century. However, no empirical study currently exists in the literature that examines the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on dental education. This study evaluated the impact of COVID‐19 on dental education and dental students’ experience. Methods An anonymous online survey was administrated to professional dental students that focused on their experiences related to COVID‐19. The survey included questions about student demographics, protocols for school reopening and student perceptions of institutional responses, student concerns, and psychological impacts. Results Among the 145 respondents, 92.4% were pre‐doctoral dental students and 7.6% were orthodontic residents; 48.2% were female and 12.6% students lived alone during the school closure due to the pandemic. Students’ age ranged from 23 to 39 years. Younger students expressed more concerns about their emotional health (P = 0.01). In terms of the school's overall response to COVID‐19, 73.1% students thought it was effective. The majority (83%) of students believed that social distancing in school can minimize the development of COVID‐19. In general, students felt that clinical education suffered after transitioning to online but responded more positively about adjustments to other online curricular components. Conclusions The COVID‐19 pandemic significantly impacted dental education. Our findings indicate that students are experiencing increased levels of stress and feel their clinical education has suffered. Most students appear comfortable with technology adaptations for didactic curriculum and favor masks, social distancing, and liberal use of sanitizers.

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to substantial public discussion. Understanding these discussions can help institutions, governments, and individuals navigate the pandemic. Objective The aim of this study is to analyze discussions on Twitter related to COVID-19 and to investigate the sentiments toward COVID-19. Methods This study applied machine learning methods in the field of artificial intelligence to analyze data collected from Twitter. Using tweets originating exclusively in the United States and written in English during the 1-month period from March 20 to April 19, 2020, the study examined COVID-19–related discussions. Social network and sentiment analyses were also conducted to determine the social network of dominant topics and whether the tweets expressed positive, neutral, or negative sentiments. Geographic analysis of the tweets was also conducted. Results There were a total of 14,180,603 likes, 863,411 replies, 3,087,812 retweets, and 641,381 mentions in tweets during the study timeframe. Out of 902,138 tweets analyzed, sentiment analysis classified 434,254 (48.2%) tweets as having a positive sentiment, 187,042 (20.7%) as neutral, and 280,842 (31.1%) as negative. The study identified 5 dominant themes among COVID-19–related tweets: health care environment, emotional support, business economy, social change, and psychological stress. Alaska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Florida were the states expressing the most negative sentiment while Vermont, North Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, and North Carolina conveyed the most positive sentiment. Conclusions This study identified 5 prevalent themes of COVID-19 discussion with sentiments ranging from positive to negative. These themes and sentiments can clarify the public’s response to COVID-19 and help officials navigate the pandemic.

Sex and gender related health disparities in oral health remain an underappreciated and often over looked aspect of well-being. The goal of this narrative review is to identify sex and gender related oral health disparities by summarizing the current literature related to differences in oral health between men and women. The review identified that men are more likely to: ignore their oral health, have poorer oral hygiene habits, and experience higher rates of periodontal disease, oral cancer, and dental trauma. Men also visit dentists less frequently and compared to women seek oral treatment more often for an acute problem and less often for disease prevention. Women exhibit more positive attitudes about dental visits, greater oral health literacy, and demonstrate better oral health behaviors than men. Men disproportionately develop periodontal diseases due to a combination of biological and gender related reasons including immune system factors, hormone differences, poorer oral hygiene behaviors, and greater tobacco use. There is a male to female ratio of 2:1 for oral cancer, largely attributable to more tobacco use, heavier use of alcohol, and longer sun exposure. Minority men experience a disproportionate burden of oral health disparities because of both their gender and race/ethnic identities. In conclusion, this review identifies several differences between men and women related to oral health and highlights the need for further research to better understand these disparities and how to incorporate them into developing prevention, education and treatment strategies to improve oral health in men.

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Background: Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and both clinical and epidemiological data link cumulative solar dosages and the number of sunburns to skin cancer. Each year, more than 5.4 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed, incurring a significant health and financial burden. Recommended preventive measures for skin cancer include the use of sunscreen, sun avoidance, and protective clothing. This study used a national database to examine the association of preventive measures with the prevalence of skin cancer, specifically analyzing the preventive measures of sunscreen use, staying in the shade, and wearing long-sleeved shirts. The second aim was to determine which characteristics, if any, correlated with using prevention measures. Methods: This study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2015–2016 cycle to examine the association of three preventive measures (using sunscreen, staying in the shade, and wearing long-sleeved shirts) with skin cancer. Logistic regression and chi-square tests were utilized to examine the relationship between skin cancer and these prevention methods. Results: Sunscreen use (OR = 3.752; p < 0.05) was statistically associated with a lower prevalence of skin cancer, while wearing long-sleeved shirts (OR = 6.911; p = 0.064) and staying in the shade (OR = 0.646; p = 0.481) did not emerge as factors significantly associated with a lower prevalence after controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, income, health insurance, and general health. Additionally, men and individuals of color were less likely to use sunscreen. Conclusion: Sunscreen use was associated with a lower prevalence of skin cancer, while wearing long-sleeved shirts and staying in the shade was not significantly linked to lower rates of skin cancer, suggesting that these measures may not be as effective as sunscreen for preventing skin cancer. Men and individuals of color were significantly less likely to use sunscreen. These findings can help guide future education efforts and research regarding skin cancer prevention and suggest the need to develop male-oriented programs to mitigate the gender disparity in employing sun-protection measures.