Knowing how to diagnose effectively and efficiently is a fundamental skill that a good dental professional should acquire. If students perform a greater number of clinical cases, they will improve their performance with patients. In this sense, virtual patients with artificial intelligence offer a controlled, stimulating, and safe environment for students. To assess student satisfaction after interaction with an artificially intelligent chatbot that recreates a virtual patient, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in which a virtual patient was created with artificial intelligence in the form of a chatbot and presented to fourth and fifth year dental students. After several weeks interacting with the AI, they were given a survey to find out their assessment. A total of 193 students participated. A large majority of the students were satisfied with the interaction (mean 4.36), the fifth year students rated the interaction better and showed higher satisfaction values. The students who reached a correct diagnosis rated this technology more positively. Our research suggests that the incorporation of this technology in dental curricula would be positively valued by students and would also ensure their training and adaptation to new technological developments.

Small molecules have demonstrated promising results as successful alternatives to growth factors. In this study, focus was drawn to CHIR99021 and tideglusib as GSK-3 inhibitors known for their anti-inflammatory and regenerative potential. The effect of both tideglusib and CHIR99021 on the proliferation, viability, and stemness of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) was investigated to assess their possible role in regenerative dentistry. Briefly, hDPSCs were isolated from sound premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes. Cytotoxicity and proliferation assessment were performed via cell counting kit-8 followed by flow cytometric analysis of apoptotic marker ANNEXIN V. The effect of both small molecules on the stemness of hDPSCs was analyzed by qRT-PCR. Both tideglusib and CHIR99021 were proven to be safe on hDPSCs. The tideglusib concentration that resulted in higher viable cells was 100 nM, while the concentration for CHIR99021 was 5 nM. Both small molecules successfully induced cellular proliferation and demonstrated minimal expression of ANNEXIN V, indicative of the absence of cellular apoptosis and further confirming their positive effect on proliferation. Finally, both small molecules enhanced stemness markers expression as evidenced by qRT-PCR, which, again, highlighted the positive effect of both tideglusib and CHIR99021 on safely promoting the proliferation of hDPSCs while maintaining their stemness.

Objectives: Dental treatment in special needs patients, including children with autism, can be accomplished by reducing the behaviors that can reduce fear, as it has been demonstrated in other studies. The present study aims to examine the influence of the latency time elapsing between desensitization and the real dental situation on facilitating the access of children with autism to dental treatment. Study design: Nineteen patients with autism, who were aged 3–14 years and attended the Special Education Center in Madrid but were living with their parents at home, were selected for the study. All children in the sample were subjected to a desensitization process before attending the real dental office. Two study groups were established: the latency period between the last desensitization and the real situation was one day for the first group and seven days for the second group. An experimental study was conducted to assess the child’s cooperation in the dental chair; the dental examination was divided into several steps and the highest step reached by each child was recorded. Results: There is a statistical difference in the number of steps reached between the children who received the information just before the examination date and the children who experienced a longer latency period between receiving the information and experiencing the examination. Conclusions: We would like to emphasize the importance of providing information in advance when dealing with autistic children; this information should be as close as possible to the real situation. Additionally, we would like to stress the importance of inter-cooperation between parents, educators, and pediatric dentists in order to guarantee adequate oro-dental care for autistic children. Further studies with larger sample sizes and a control group are recommended.

Introduction: One of the main challenges in pediatric dentistry is to provide a favorable experience to the patient, and the success of the treatment depends on this to a large extent. For this reason, multiple methods have arisen, among which are virtual reality glasses, that try to facilitate the management of behavior in the dental office by reducing the dental anxiety of patients. Objectives: The effectiveness of the use of virtual reality glasses as a distraction in pediatric dentistry was studied. In addition, a bibliographic review was performed to determine whether the use of virtual reality reduces anxiety and improves the behavior of children during their dental consultations and dental treatments. Methodology: To obtain the information, we performed a bibliographic review using electronic bibliographic sources from scientific databases, high-impact journals and specialized search engines. Results and Discussion: It is relatively easy to obtain information on the level of dental anxiety of the child patient by means of different scales and the use of a digital pulse oximeter, which helps us to know the effectiveness of the use of virtual reality glasses at the time of the dental procedure. The greatest controversy is found in cases in which it is not possible to adjust them because of the age and size of the child or because of the personal use of glasses. Conclusions: There are multiple studies that confirm the effectiveness of the use of virtual reality glasses as a distraction in pediatric dentistry, and these studies support the effectiveness of virtual reality glasses in reducing dental anxiety and improving the behavior of patients during their consultations and dental treatments.

A posterior crossbite is an occlusion disorder that occurs in the transverse plane. It occurs when the buccal cusps of the upper premolars and molars engage lingually with the buccal cusps of the lower teeth. It can be unilateral or bilateral (involving one or more teeth) in the primary, mixed, or permanent dentition. A crossbite may appear in early dentition stages and it can be dental or functional. It can lead to skeletal crossbite in mixed dentition. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. Material and methods: The selected sample included 204 patients in growing stage divided into two groups: a study group of 102 patients with posterior crossbite and a control group of 102 patients without malocclusion. To analyze the pathology, intraoral frontal photographs and study models were taken, in which the bone component was measured from the Wala Ridge. Results: The use of the photographs to study the Wala Ridge was confirmed. The mean maxillary width was 57.8 mm (SD 1.7) and mandibular width was 56.4 mm (SD 1.7) for the control group, with a maxillomandibular difference of 1.4 mm (SD 0.7); and 52.7 mm (SD 3.7) and 55.5 mm (SD 3.6), respectively, with a maxillomandibular difference of −2.8 mm (SD 1.4) for the study group. A higher maxillomandibular discrepancy was observed in patients with a posterior crossbite that involved more than one tooth in addition to the permanent first molar. It was also higher in patients with bilateral posterior crossbite. Conclusions: Intraoral frontal photography can be used as a diagnostic method to measure the maxillomandibular difference using the Wala Ridge.

Based on the results of the 2015 oral health survey in Spain, the prevalence of untreated dental caries in temporary dentition, in the six-year cohort was 27,8%, and in the twelve-year cohort 14,6%. Due to the magnitude of the problem, the high health cost and the possibilities of prevention, monitoring the oral health status of the child population is extremely important, as it will allow the implementation of prevention and early care strategies. Objectives: To study the caries prevalence and malocclusion in the mixed dentition in children aged 6–12 years in Madrid, Spain. . Materials and methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out in the city of Madrid during the 2018–2019 school year. Fifth year students of the European University of Madrid through health surveys, calibrated and supervised by the two main researchers, collected the data. The schoolchildren assessed were students from different schools in the city of Madrid, between 6 and 12 years old. According to WHO standards, data were collected in 2 months. Results: The total number of students examined was 303 students from 4 different schools in the community of Madrid. The prevalence of caries in our sample in the primary dentition was 45.21% with dmf> 0 and in the permanent dentition it was 23.7 % with a DMF> of 0. Conclusions: The oral health survey carried out in the sample shows a high prevalence of caries, as well as in the dmf and DMF indicators. Most of the children needed fluoride applications, so it would be interesting to evaluate which of them can be prevented with different public health projects.