The COVID-19 pandemic, still on the growth curve, has had a devastating effect on the dental health sector for the past 3 months. This has become an area of enormous concern for the dentists professionally and the patients in terms of dental health. Dentistry at this point needs a complete structural change to prevent cross-infection among the patients and dentists owing to the unique characteristic of a dental health-care setting as well as to offer a sense of safety and security to the patients. This article highlights the salient points to be considered for the post-COVID phase in dentistry.

Composite resins represent the current state of the art in the field of restorative materials, for they present a standard aesthetic potential with satisfactory durability and are less cost-effective than a comparable ceramic restoration. The most recent addition to this is a nanohybrid direct composite that demonstrates exceptional handling properties and superior aesthetics. These series of case reports illustrate the three different scenarios where nanohybrid composite was used as a direct restorative material owing to its high smoothness and favorable mechanical properties; the first case being the fracture of an upper lateral incisor, second of Class IV caries in upper central incisors, and lastly the discolored restoration and Class III caries in upper central incisors. The nanohybrids used provided an acceptable color match in all the three cases with a conservative technique and were relatively easy to maintain.

Background. Bioceramics need to interact chemically with dentin to exhibit adequate bioactivity.Proper bonding of bioceramics with dentin is of considerable importance. This study aimed to evaluatethe wettability and marginal adaptation of bioceramics after the use of surface-active agents on dentin:%0.5 cetrimide and %1 alkylbenzene sulfonate. Methods. Of ninety maxillary central incisors, 45 teeth were sectioned longitudinally with 45 roothalves randomly assigned to three groups (n=15): group I: no pre-treatment; group II: %0.5 cetrimide;group III: %1 alkylbenzene sulfonate. Then, the samples were subdivided into three subgroups (n=5):subgroup I: MTA; subgroup II: Biodentine, and subgroup III: BioRoot. A controlled-volume dropletof bioceramic material was placed on each root half, which was positioned in a dynamic contact angleanalyzer to record the static contact angle for wettability. The remaining 45 samples were decoronated;the root canals were prepared and randomly categorized, as mentioned above. The root canal surfaceswere treated, filled with the bioceramic material, transversely sectioned, and then each middle sectionwas analyzed microscopically for marginal adaptation. Statistical tests used included post hoc Tukeytests and one-way ANOVA. The level of statistical significance set at %95 (P<0.05). Results. The contact angle values and interfacial gap width values after surface pre-treatment weresignificantly lower when compared to no pre-treatment group (P<0.05). The values were significant for%0.5 cetrimide in the case of Biodentine and %1 alkylbenzene sulfonate in the case of BioRoot (P<0.05). Conclusion. The two surfactants yielded promising results for enhancing the wettability and marginaladaptation of materials to the root dentin, which is required for obtaining an adequate seal, penetration,and bond strength of bioceramics.

Aim: Aim of the present study was to determine the incidence of restoration replacement and associated factors among South Canara population. Place of Study: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangaluru. Duration of Study: May 15, 2018-June 15, 2018 (1 month). Methodology: 2000 patients were examined using mouth mirror and explorer under good lighting facilities, followed by a questionnaire to determine the incidence of restoration replacement and the parameters checked for correlations were type of the restorative material, class of the restoration, reason for the failure, type and position of the tooth, and patient factors such as age-group, gender and oral hygiene measures followed. Statistical Analysis: Data obtained was statistically analysed by using IBM SBSS version 24. Differences between variables were analysed by Chi-square test. Results and Conclusion: Significant differences were found in case of age groups, reason of replacement and the class of restoration The incidence of restoration replacement was 18.2% as 364 patients out of 2000 patients showed the need for replacements. The main cause of the failure was secondary caries followed by material fracture and discoloration. Amalgam was the most commonly replaced restorative material and lower molar teeth showed more failures. It also indicated that replacements were more prevalent in males and for individuals brushing once daily followed by ones with occasional brushing and lastly who brushed twice daily.

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