The main findings were that students from Malmö and Naples were, similar in knowledge and understanding of TMD/OP and in satisfaction with their clinical competences. However, Malmö students perceived more confidence in clinical management of patients with TMD/OP. This may reflect that, besides the theoretical part of the programme, a sufficient level of clinical exposure to patients with TMD/OP is essential to gain competences in TMD/OP.

Background and Objectives: Surfaces of composite restorations are adversely affected upon bleaching and topical fluoride application. Such a procedure is normally carried out in the presence of restorations already serving in a different oral environment, although previous in vitro studies only considered the freshly-prepared composite specimens for assessment. The current study accordingly aimed to evaluate both the surface hardness and roughness of aged composite restoratives following their successive exposure to bleaching and topical fluoride preparations. Materials and Methods: Disc specimens were prepared from micro-hybrid, nano-filled, flowable and bulk-fill resin composites (groups 1–4, n = 60 each). All specimens were subjected to artificial aging before their intermittent exposure to surface treatment with: none (control), bleach or topical fluoride (subgroups 1–3, n = 20). All surface treatments were interrupted with two periods of 5000 thermal cycles. Specimens’ surfaces were then tested for both surface hardness (Vickers hardness number (VHN), n = 10) and roughness (Ra, n = 10). The collected VHNs and Ras were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Tukey’s comparisons at α = 0.05 to confirm the significance of differences between subgroups. Results: None of the tested composites showed differences in surface hardness and roughness between the bleached and the non-treated specimens (p > 0.05), but the bleached flowable composite specimens only were rougher than their control (p < 0.000126). In comparison to the control, fluoride treatment not only reduced the surface hardness of both micro-hybrid (p = 0.000129) and flowable (p = 0.0029) composites, but also increased the surface roughness of all tested composites (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Aged composite restoratives provide minimal surface alterations on successive bleaching and fluoride applications. Flowable resin composite is the most affected by such procedures. Although bleaching seems safe for other types of composites, the successive fluoride application could deteriorate the aged surfaces of the tested resin composites.

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Aim:To evaluate and compare the quality of root canal filling performed by junior and senior undergraduate students attending College of Dentistry at King Khalid University (KKUCOD). Materials and methods: A total of 460 radiographs of teeth treated by two different levels of students were eligible for the study. Undergraduate students under the close supervision of endodontists following KKUCOD endodontic protocol performed all randomized controlled trial (RCTs). Three different examiners independently evaluated the radiographs after 4 weeks training with endodontists on radiographic analysis with the good interexaminer agreement. The quality of root canal filling was evaluated in regard to length, density, taper and encountered procedural errors during treatment having the final outcome as either acceptable or not-acceptable root canal filling. Results: The percentage of root canal obturation with adequate length of was 57% for lower-level students and 69.3% for higher-level students. A higher proportion of students in lower-level performed obturation with inadequate density compared to higher-level students. Inadequate tapering was significantly more in lower-level student. Considering tooth type, overall RCT quality was similar in anterior and premolars between different student levels while it was significantly inadequate in molars among lower-level students. Conclusion: The quality of root canal filling was satisfactory compared to other similar studies in Saudi Arabia. Teaching crown-down technique and rotary instrumentation training are recommended. Finally, Molars and multirooted premolars should be referred to specialists. Clinical significance: It is highly important to closely monitor undergraduate students in performing RCTs to increase the quality of treatment. This will increase the success of treatment performed by general practitioners, reduce a load of referral to specialists and decrease the long waiting lists in dental service centers in Saudi Arabia.