Background and Aim: The Novel coronavirus disease has grasped the world as one of the most devastating pandemics of recent times. Many efforts such as social distancing was made to cut down the spread of the virus in its early days and restrictions were followed by numerous countries worldwide which resulted in serious hurdles in all sectors of our daily lives such as education, financial and social activities. This study was conducted to evaluate the implications of E-Learning and its future use by students and faculty members following the pandemic restrictions. Material and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey that was distributed online among students and faculty members belonging to medical and non-medical programs across universities in major cities of Pakistan. Results: Of the total 476 responses, it was evident that the majority of the students were not satisfied with the learning experience that virtual classrooms provided. Concerning clinical and practical skills, a majority agreed that the online teaching method is not an effective way to develop essential skills. Conclusion: Online education may be a necessary technological advancement needed in the field of education, but as concluded from the results of this study there is a disagreement about virtual classrooms being an effective medium of learning. It is also inconvenient to develop appropriate practical and clinical skills using E-learning as a medium.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices among  dental practitioners at a dental hospital in Islamabad.  Materials and methods: This study consisted of 147 participants. The questionnaire had 21 questions related to vaccination status, barrier techniques infection control practices and awareness. The questionnaire was distributed through Google forms to the participants after taking consent from them. The data was analyzed and tabulated through SPSS version 23.  Result: Out of 147, 123 participants responded to our questionnaire. 75.6% of the participants were vaccinated against hepatitis B and 87.8% regularly wash their hands before and after dental treatment.100% of the participants wore and change gloves after each patient. In current study the senior dental practitioners had a relatively poor mean score(4.1%) in terms of knowledge, attitude and practice scores regarding infection control as compared to house officers and fresh graduates (59%). 1)  Conclusion: The infection control knowledge, attitude and practices among  dental practitioners was better, however there is room for improvement in compliance and knowledge in the dental health care workers.  More knowledge about infection control measures should be provided to the  dental practitioners, moreover efforts are needed to improve the attitude and practice of the dental  practitioners towards infection control at Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad.

OBJECTIVE: Dental anxiety can be adversely affected by pandemics like corona virus. Most patients have preferred to defer their dental appointments and that patients generally neglect their health in epidemics. The investigation was carried out to determine the effect of the current coronavirus pandemic on dental anxiety by comparing through and post 1st wave of pandemic dental anxiety scores. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the Pakistani population using online surveys from June to August 2020. A total of 681 participants were recruited. Standardized and validated questionnaires were used to measure dental anxiety scores during and after the 2nd wave of pandemic. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 22. Independent t-test was used to compare dental anxiety scores through and after the 2nd wave of COVID-19. Fear of COVID-19 among the participants was also evaluated. RESULTS: From a total of 681 participants, 668 responses were retained in accordance to the inclusion criteria. A statistically significant difference was obtained regarding the dental anxiety levels during and after the 2nd wave of COVID-19 (p value =0.001). However, there was no significant difference between fear of COVID-19 scale and dental anxiety scores during COVID-19 (p value = 0.284). CONCLUSION: The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated an adverse effect on patient dental anxiety scores. We also noted that the majority of the people were not willing to attend their dental appointment during this pandemic. KEYWORDS: COVID-19, coronavirus infection, dental anxiety, fear.

Background: Since the start of January 2020, COVID-19, has been a serious health risk concerning the wellbeing and welfare of people worldwide.  Health care workers are prone to more psychological problems because of their direct contact with infectious patients. Owing to the disruption of educational activities worldwide, stress was common among students. The objective of this study was to determine the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dental surgeons and dental students. Methods: The survey was conducted at Islamic International Dental Hospital form February 2021 to July 2021. A total of 400 questionnaires were sent to students and dental surgeons, however 340 completely filled questionnaires were returned. Questionnaire using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess the psychological influence. Data was compiled and independent sample t -test and Pearson’s correlation were applied using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 23 to determine difference of means considering p<0.05 as cut off for significance. Results: The means of stress score, anxiety score and depression were 2.24+0.5, 3.56 +0.06 and 2.83+0.06 respectively. Pearson’s correlation among the dimensions of DAS scale showed that Depression, Anxiety and Stress were positively and significantly correlated with each other. Conclusion: There were high levels of Depression, Anxiety and Stress among dental students during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective The objective of this study was to assess the dental patients' knowledge and perspectives with respect to the second wave of COVID-19. Materials and methods A self-designed questionnaire was sent as a google forms link via WhatsApp and a few patients who had no access to WhatsApp, were asked to fill out a hand printed form. The completed questionnaires were then analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (IBM version 22). Results: A total of 350 participants were included in the study, out of which 38% were male and 62% were female. Result was calculated using binary logistic regression analysis for different variables to predict the confidence level based on their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding second wave of COVID-19. Conclusion: Our study concluded that there is more than satisfactory level of knowledge regarding COVID-19 and People are aware of the basic protocols which help in protection against the virus owing to easy access of information.