Fluoridated-milk schemes have been developed and implemented in many countries to prevent dental caries. This study aimed to evaluate the impact/influence of scientific publications, researchers, and institutions conducting research on milk fluoridation; to explore the international and inter-institutional collaboration and illustrate scientific output trends; and to pinpoint research hotspots in milk fluoridation research. This bibliometric analysis of original research articles on milk fluoridation includes all of the original articles published in peer-reviewed journals systematically extracted from the SCOPUS database. In total, 108 articles were included in this study, with a total of 11,789 citations. A majority (67.6%) of these articles were in the subject area of ‘dentistry’, 22.2% externally funded, 14.8% published in the journal, Caries Research, 7.4% authored/co-authored by Twetman S, 6.5% by authors from Universidad de Chile, and the UK had the highest output (24.1%). The network visualizations showed that those countries with current/past histories of implemented milk fluoridation programs were interconnected on the network visualization map, and they were predominantly the hotspots for original research on milk fluoridation. This study also identified inequalities in research outputs on the topic. With the current enormous global burden of dental caries in children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, there is an urgent need for greater and more equitable funding of milk fluoridation research globally.

In the United Kingdom (UK), the current prevalence rates of oropharyngeal cancer linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) are 6.29% and 2.04% in men and women, respectively. Over the years, the burden of this disease has increased in the UK, and this is mainly due to the rising prevalence of HPV infection in the UK. Research evidence has shown that over 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the UK are linked to HPV. Oral sex is the major route of transmission of HPV, and over 63% of UK young adults are found to have a positive history of oral sex practice. However, only a minority of the UK population are aware of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer; this therefore calls for more public health efforts to increase awareness and knowledge on HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer in the UK. While the use of technology-based, clinic-based, and community-based interventions have been employed to improve public awareness and knowledge on the role of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer, mobile health (mhealth) interventions have not been seriously explored despite existing robust evidence on the effective roles of mhealth in improving awareness and knowledge in diverse diseases. This article therefore calls for the adoption and use of mhealth interventions in educating the UK’s population on HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer. The use of mhealth interventions in this regard is highly viable as its implementation closely aligns with the country’s National Health Service (NHS) commitment towards the digital transformation of the UK’s healthcare system.

Oral sex, a risky sexual behaviour, is now a common sexual behaviour in Nigeria. Nigerian clinicians play crucial roles in the promotion of healthy sexual behaviours among the lay public. This study seeks to identify those factors that determine the willingness of Nigerian clinicians to recommend protected oral sex to patients with history of oral sex practice. This study surveyed 330 clinicians in Nigeria, using an e-questionnaire circulated via WhatsApp and Telegram. The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 21 software. The majority (89.1%) of the respondents were willing to recommend protected oral sex for patients engaging in oral sex. Amidst all of the factors (sociodemographic factors, sexual history, etc.) investigated, only one factor (which was the uncertainty about the risk level of oral sex) was found to predict the willingness to recommend protective measures to patients on oral sex (OR = 3.06, p = 0.036). In conclusion, only few factors were found to influence Nigerian clinicians in engaging in patient education on safer oral sex practices.

Background Oral cancer is the 15th leading cause of mortality globally. The Internet is an online source of information pertaining to oral cancer and its major risk factors. This study aims to analyze the trend of global online interest on oral cancer and its major risk factors through an analysis of web searches of oral cancer. Materials and Methods This study analyzed the web searches conducted, from 2004 to January 2022, on oral cancer and its major risk factors (tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, and human papillomavirus [HPV] infection) using data obtained from Google Trends. Results Within the time frame under study, oral cancer had multiple peak search periods, with the highest relative search volume index (SVI) for a period being 1; the peak search period for alcohol was March 2020 (SVI = 100); the peak search periods for tobacco were March to April 2004 (SVI = 17); and the peak search period of HPV was April 2004 (SVI = 1). Globally, alcohol was the most common searched term among these four terms (oral cancer, alcohol, tobacco, and HPV) except in Turkey where tobacco was the most common (55%) searched term. The top 25 search queries for oral cancer, HPV, tobacco, and alcohol had SVI ranges of 22 to 100, 12 to 100, 28 to 100, and 18 to 100, respectively. From these search queries, it was observed that people have interest in oral cancer symptomatology, and the adverse effects of tobacco, alcohol, and HPV. Conclusion This study revealed an overall decline in the online interest on oral cancer and its major risk factors on a global scale.

Over the past decade, omics technologies such as genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have been used in the scientific understanding of diseases. While omics technologies have provided a useful tool for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases globally, there is a dearth of literature on the use of these technologies in Africa, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer. This systematic scoping review aims to present the status of the omics research capacity on oral cancer in Africa. The guidelines by the Joanna Brigg’s Institute for conducting systematic scoping reviews will be adopted for this review’s methodology and it will be reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. The literature that will be reviewed will be scooped out from PubMed, SCOPUS, Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source, AMED, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases. In conclusion, the findings that will be obtained from this review will aid the in-depth understanding of the status of oral cancer omics research in Africa, as this knowledge is paramount for the enhancement of strategies required for capacity development and the prioritization of resources in the fight against oral cancer in Africa.

In the UK, the age-standardised incidence rates of cancers of the ‘oropharynx’and ‘lip and oral cavity’ are ‘2.6%’ and ‘4.9%’ respectively.These indicate a significant oral cancer burden. These are attributable tonumerous risk factors; the major risk factors include tobacco use, alcoholconsumption, and exposure to oral HPV infection. Though, significantsuccess in reducing the prevalence of most of the major risk factorshas been recorded, exposure to HPV infection still remains a majordriver of oral cancer prevalence in the UK. HPV-associated oropharyngealcancer prevalence in men and women is 6.29 and 2.04%, respectively,while prevalence for HPV-associated oral cavity cancer in menand women is 11.7 and 6.95%, respectively; and it is projected to overtakecervical cancer by the year 2025. This is mainly due to exposure tooral HPV infection through oral sex practice as over 63% of UK youngadults are found to have a history of oral sex practice. Only a minorityof the UK population is aware of HPV-associated oral cancer whichcalls for more public health efforts to increase knowledge on the role ofHPV in oral cancer. While the use of technology-based, clinic-based,and community-based interventions has been employed to improvepublic knowledge on the role of HPV in oral cancer development, technology-based interventions have not been adequately explored. Mhealthapplication-based interventions have been previously employed toimprove knowledge and behavioural change in diverse chronic diseases.Hence, our recommendation on the adoption of Mhealth application-based intervention strategy in the education of the UK’s populationon HPV-associated oral cancer is highly desirable as it closelyaligns with the country’s National Health Service (NHS) commitmenttowards the digital transformation of the healthcare system.