Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the additive effect of leukocyte and platelet-rich fibrin (L-PRF) on coronally advanced flap (CAF) procedures in root coverage of Miller’s class I and II gingival recession defects. Review methodology: A comprehensive search in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus and CENTRAL (the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), along with an additional hand search, provided eight randomized clinical trials to be included in this review. A total of 167 patients with 470 gingival recession defects were analyzed. A meta-analysis was carried out to assess the change in gingival thickness (GT), width of keratinized gingiva (WKG), root coverage percentage (%RC), clinical attachment level (CAL) and recession depth (RD) at all follow-ups between CAF alone and CAF + L-PRF groups for all included studies. A subgroup analysis was carried out based on recession type (single/multiple). Results: Overall, a significant improvement in GT, CAL and RD was found when treated with CAF + L-PRF. There was a trend for a positive effect in terms of an increase in WKG when using L-PRF, especially in the treatment of single recession, though significance was not achieved (p = 0.08 overall). The results of heterogeneity among the subgroups were varied and were found to be greater than 91.3% for GT and 32.8% for WKG. Conclusion: L-PRF when used in addition to CAF showed favorable results for the treatment of class I and II gingival recession defects.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has garnered significant attention in recent years for its potential to revolutionize healthcare, including dentistry. However, despite the growing body of literature on AI-based dental image analysis, challenges such as the integration of AI into clinical workflows, variability in dataset quality, and the lack of standardized evaluation metrics remain largely underexplored. This systematic review aims to address these gaps by assessing the extent to which AI technologies have been integrated into dental specialties, with a specific focus on their applications in dental imaging. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted, selecting relevant studies through electronic searches from Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases, covering publications from 2018 to 2023. A total of 52 articles were systematically analyzed to evaluate the diverse approaches of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) in dental imaging. This review reveals that AI has become increasingly prevalent, with researchers predominantly employing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for detection and diagnosis tasks. Pretrained networks demonstrate strong performance in many scenarios, while ML techniques have shown growing utility in estimation and classification. Key challenges identified include the need for larger, annotated datasets and the translation of research outcomes into clinical practice. The findings underscore AI’s potential to significantly advance diagnostic support, particularly for non-specialist dentists, improving patient care and clinical efficiency. AI-driven software can enhance diagnostic accuracy, facilitate data sharing, and support collaboration among dental professionals. Future developments are anticipated to enable patient-specific optimization of restoration designs and implant placements, leveraging personalized data such as dental history, tissue type, and bone thickness to achieve better outcomes.

Background: At the time of pandemics like COVID-19, dental professionals being one of the frontline workers must face a lot of challenges in workplace bringing about a lot of anxiety and stress. The purpose of this survey was to assess the physiological well-being of the dental professionals, the majority of challenges faced by them, , how they are dealing with it and what changes in their opinion could be implemented to be prepared in the wake of any future adversity. Methodology: We conducted a cross sectional survey via an online questionnaire that was sent to dentists in 4 different countries- India, US, UK, and Iran. The questionnaire comprised of closed ended questions grouped in broad categories of demographics, physiological well-being of dentists, Changes in dental practice during COVID-19 and Changes to be implemented post Covid-19. Descriptive analysis was performed to summarize the data with SPSS-19 software. Results: A total of 312 dentists (181 Males and 131 Females) from four countries responded to the study. Most of them (56.4 %) were in the age group of 30 to 40 years, 27.9 % in 25- 30 years, and 7.1% above 50 years. 47.5% dentists reported suffering from stress and anxiety due to the shutting down of their private dental practices. 72.5% dentists reported that they are worried about the operational and financial challenges to run their practice during Covid-19. 60% of the dentists had concerns due to the shortage of personal protective equipment. Most of the dental professionals (73.9%) are of the opinion that management of medical emergencies should be included in the dental curriculum, so that dentists can volunteer their services at the time of crisis and also can be well-prepared to take care of their patients. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, dentists like medical professionals must face a lot of ethical and moral dilemma along with dealing with the operational challenges. The present study draws our attention to the fact that despite having faced pandemics like SARS, health professions like dentistry still need a lot of preparedness and requires modifications to face any such challenges in future.

Covid-19 was declared as global pandemic by WHO. World is not unknown to the family of coronaviruses due to previous epidemic caused by SARS and MERS. Healthcare professions have from time to time change their ways of practicing because of the direct threat posed by such infections, capable of causing human to human transmission. This article, based on our experience and guidelines issued by CDC as well as IDA, intends to provide a review of recommended protocols for dental professionals.

Waardenburg syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder of neural crest cell migration. It is characterized by congenital sensorineural hearing loss, heterochromia iridis, depigmentation of hair and skin, and increased intercanthal distance. It is subdivided into four subtypes with I and II being most common. These subtypes are categorized based on genetic mutations. Although medical literature has well documented this syndrome, dental and radiographical findings have been rarely presented. In this case report and literature review, we have presented and discussed oral as well as head and neck radiology findings of a 20-year-old girl with Waardenburg syndrome.