The spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection has increased the risk of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), and healthcare workers (HCWs) are at greater risk than other occupational groups. This observational cross-sectional study aimed to explore the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among dental HCWs in Russia during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The survey was carried out among 128 dental HCWs from three dental clinics of Ekaterinburg, Russia. The mean age of the sample was 38.6 years. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21); PTSD was assessed using the PTSD Symptom Scale-Self-Report (PSS-SR); subjective distress was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). The results indicated that 20.3–24.2% HCWs had mild to extremely severe symptoms of psychological distress, and 7.1–29.7% had clinical symptoms of PTSD. No differences between females and males were revealed. HCWs working directly with patients had significantly higher levels of PTSD symptoms and the risk of PTSD development compared to those working indirectly, whereas older HCWs had significantly higher levels of both psychological distress and PTSD symptoms compared to younger HCWs. Thus, dental HCWs are at high risk for psychological distress and PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The physical environment of healthcare settings can promote both the healing process and patient feelings of well-being, as well as instill positive emotions in employees. The present study aimed to evaluate the dental work environment of a typical private and public dental clinic to identify key parameters that determine the perception of health facilities by patients and employees. The study was carried out from 1 to 20 December 2021, in two dental clinics in Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation) using ‘ASPECT’. The participants were 58 staff and 94 patients. The results showed that, compared with patients, staff reported higher views scores, nature and outdoors scores, and comfort and control scores. The common criterion that distinguishes private clinics from public ones was comfort and control. Compared with patients in state clinics, patients in private clinics reported higher privacy, company and dignity scores, comfort and control scores, interior appearance scores, and facility scores. In general, while views scores and nature parameters can be singled out as a universal absolute value for everyone in a particular environment, staff pay more attention to factors that contribute to long-term comfortable stay and performance of their duties.

Subject. One of the features of the current stage of development of Russian health care system is a targeted approach to physically challenged children; these are not only children with disabilities, but also children with autism spectrum disorder. Special programs based on behavior modification have been developed for teaching oral hygiene to children with autism, in addition to traditional oral hygiene education modern gadgets are now increasingly being used. A pediatric dentist needs to integrate into modern youth trends, create methods for motivating children to oral hygiene using modern propaganda tools, including interactive ones, using smart technologies and augmented reality, which significantly increase involvement of the population. Purpose — is to compare the effectiveness of modern methods of preventing dental diseases in children with autism spectrum disorders in the subjects of the Ural Federal District. Methodology. The research materials were data from the annual reports of the lider specialist pediatric dentist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District, the available techniques and best practices in prevention of dental diseases in children with autism spectrum disorders. Results. A comparative analysis confirms the importance and relevance of measures for the primary prevention of dental diseases in children with autism spectrum disorders. Conclusions. The most promising are Smart-technologies, the great social significance of the result of the implementation of projects is unconditional. Low costs for the introduction and maintenance of the product Smart-technologies for the prevention of dental diseases, ensure the implementation of projects in practice, including this category of children. Taking into account national federal project “Electronic Health”, there is the possibility of introducing Smart-technologies into the practice of medical organizations. Given the relevance of the problem and the novelty of the solution, combined with the low cost of implementing this technology, the importance of ongoing projects is assessed as high.

Subject. The health status of children and adolescents is one of the most acute medical and social problems. It is known, that with dental diseases, changes occur not only in the immunological profile of the oral fluid, but also in morphology of the oral tissues. New approaches to the traditional cytological study of buccal epithelium such as analysis of the cytogram with the isolation of various types of cells, as well as the detection of cytological abnormalities of cells, allows us to evaluate the reactivity of the oral mucosa in pathological processes. According to WHO recommendations (2013), groups of children 5-6, 12, 15 years of age are the global indicator age groups for monitoring disease trends and comparisons on an international scale. The objective of the study is to assess the health status of children age 5-6, 12, 15 with non-invasive methods. It is based on the results of a clinical and laboratory examination of 179 children, attending organized children's groups. Children underwent a comprehensive dental examination, which included a questionnaire according to the WHO method, an external examination of the maxillofacial region, an examination of the oral cavity, identification of pathology of hard tooth tissues. Methodology. We studied the change in the dental status of patients, indicators of oral fluid and basal epithelium with age, in order to prognostically use non-invasive assessment methods in a comprehensive health examination, planning and evaluating the effectiveness of prevention programs. Results. It was noted that the dental health status of children 5-6, 12, 15 years old can be assessed as satisfactory, while dental, laboratory and cytological health indicators worsen with age. Non-invasive methods for assessing the dental status of patients can be used in a comprehensive examination of children's health, planning and evaluating the effectiveness of prevention programs.

It is possible to increase the effectiveness of preventive dental measures by a differentiated approach to the use of toothpastes [3]. The most intensive incorporation of calcium and fluorides into the composition of the hard tissues of teeth occurs during their formation and mineralization [4, 5]. At the end of the growth and mineralization of the teeth, the enamel and dentin of the teeth become less permeable to fluoride, but the need for them does not disappear. Also, a number of authors note that the need for ions with different caries activity may differ. The purpose of our study was to study the effectiveness of the use of toothpastes in 6–7, 12, 15-year-old schoolchildren with various caries activity. We examined 532 children, attending organized children's groups in Yekaterinburg. By a randomization procedure based on the method of random numbers, children were divided into groups according to the type of paste used: calcium-containing, fluorine-containing, combined use of calcium and fluorine-containing pastes, paste based on organosilicon glycerohydrogel. The toothpastes effectiveness was assessed by the change in enamel resistance by functional methods: electrometry and Enamel Resistance Test. The annual increase in caries was taken into account. It was found that calcium-containing toothpastes are most effective in the first month of use, then the effect of their use weakens. Fluoride toothpastes lead to a persistent but slow increase in enamel resistance. The combined use of calcium and fluoride toothpastes gives a quick and lasting effect. A paste based on organosilicon glycerohydrogel gives a persistent decrease in enamel electrometry, with the best results in the group of schoolchildren with high caries activity.