Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the preclinical and clinical undergraduate dental students’ perceptions of their educational climate (EC). In addition it will be compared with other local and international studies. Materials and Methods: Students enrolled in their third and fourth years (preclinical phase) and students in their fifth and sixth years (clinical phase) of the Bachelor of Dental Science at the University of Jazan, Saudi Arabia, were invited to complete a WhatsApp media survey, which included demographics and the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This scale measured students’ overall perceptions of the EC in five domains: learning, teaching, academic self-perception, atmosphere, and social self-perception. Data were analyzed with Student’s t-tests and ANOVA to compare between and within groups. Results: A total of 272 participants, 140 (51.5%) preclinical and 132 (48.5%) clinical students,took part in the study. Students were generally positive about their learning climate, with overall DREEM scores of 125.19 and 126.21 (preclinical) to 124.10 (clinical) out of a possible score of 200 phases. Student’s perceptions of teaching (26.18± 3.24/72.72%) and atmosphere (28.08± 5.29/63.82%) were the highest and lowest scores, respectively, and both scores were positive. Conclusion: No differences between the preclinical and clinical phases of the curriculum point to the structure of learning, teaching, academic, social self-perception in health professional degrees. Further research should investigate the weak points in the social and atmospheric climate.

Background: Early diagnosis and intervention of ectopically erupting first permanent molars (FPMs) are vital to avoiding later complex surgical or/and orthodontic treatment. Selection of proper type of intervention and simple treatment is considered as more convenient to use with children. Purpose: The aim of this retrospective radiographic cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence and severity of ectopically erupting FPMs in children attending the Dental University Teaching Hospital (DUTH) at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted using panoramic radiographs (OPGs) of 2014 patients (973 females and 1041 males) aged from 5 to 8 years old who attended DUTH at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We assessed and recorded the age and gender of the subjects, the tooth number, arch, and location of the ectopic erupted FPMs, and the severity of resorption of the roots of the primary molars. Results: Of 2014 reviewed OPGs, 45 (2.2%) cases were diagnosed with an ectopic eruption of the permanent first molar. The distribution of ectopic eruption based on gender showed that there was a higher prevalence in males 28 (2.9%) than in females 17 (1.6%). Of the 45 ectopic FPMs cases, 47 (78.33%) were detected in the maxilla, while 13 (21.66%) were seen in the mandible. Severe and moderate degrees of the ectopic eruption were found to be more common in the maxilla than in the mandible (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of such conditions, as early diagnosis is essential for providing optimum dental care. To our knowledge, this study is the first to assess the prevalence of ectopically erupting FPMs in a Saudi population.

Background: Permanent blackish discoloration of the tooth structure post application of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is one of its drawbacks. Several restorative materials have been used to restore and mask the blackish discoloration of SDF-treated teeth. Recently, a new self-adhesive material has been introduced and is marketed as an all-in-one etchant, adhesive, and restorative material indicated for use in all clinical situations. This study aimed to assess the shear bond strength of the new self-adhesive restorative material and compare it with adhesive restorative materials- resin-based composite and resin-modified glass ionomer cement to dentin of extracted permanent teeth treated with 38% SDF. Methods: Thirty-nine caries-free extracted teeth (n = 39) were grouped into three groups. Following 38% SDF application, the specimens were loaded with resin-based (Group I), the new self-adhesive restorative material (SDR) Surefil (Group II), and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) (Group III). Shear bond strength (SBS) was calculated, and failure modes were evaluated using the universal testing device (3) Results: The composite showed the highest bond strength, followed by Group II while Group III had the lowest bond strength of all tested materials. Regarding failure type, the composite showed 100% adhesive failure, while Group III and Group II showed mostly adhesive failure with some combination. (4) Conclusions: RBC had a significantly stronger SBS to demineralized dentin surfaces of permanent molar teeth treated with SDF when compared to SDR Surefil and RMGIC.

Tooth eruption is defined as the axial movement of the tooth from its site of development in the alveolar bone to its functional position in the oral cavity. A delay in eruption can directly affect the accurate diagnosis, overall treatment planning, and timing of treatment. Thus, Delayed Tooth Eruption can have a significant impact on a patient’s proper health care. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of delayed eruptions of permanent upper central incisors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A retrospective study assessed panoramic radiographs of children between the ages of 6–10 years old who attended the Dental University Hospital clinics at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 2014 and 2020. The radiographs were collected and examined to detect any delayed eruption of the permanent upper central incisors. Panoramic radiographs with delayed erupted permanent upper central incisors were identified by tooth developmental stages and eruption sequence. Of the 745 radiographs, 23 (3.09%) presented at least one delayed erupted permanent upper central incisor of which boys and girls comprised 16 (69.5%) and 7 (30.4%), respectively. Retained primary teeth was the most causative factor of delayed eruption (43.4%), followed by the early loss of primary teeth (21.7%) and insufficient arch space. The present study is the first to assess the prevalence of delayed eruption of the permanent upper central incisors on a Saudi population. Boys were found to have more prevalence of delayed eruption of the permanent upper central incisors compared to girls. Clinicians should be aware of such a condition as early diagnosis of delayed eruption is essential for providing optimal dental care.

Objectives: To record the prevalence of dental anomalies in children visiting King Saud Dental Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved radiographic examination of children aged 6 to 14 years who visited King Saud Dental Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the past five years. Four dental interns were trained in three consecutive sessions by a pediatric dentist and evaluated the orthopantomograms of the children. The recorded anomalies were divided into four categories: tooth number, size, position, and general. Descriptive statistics were derived and chi-square tests performed to report prevalence and significance among genders, medical histories, and dental anomalies. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: Of the 1987 radiographs studied, 268 (13.48%) children had dental anomalies. The sample consisted of 51.1% female and 48.5% male children, with a mean age of 11.87 ± 2.1 years. Most study participants had mixed dentition and were healthy. The prevalence of dental anomalies reported in this study was as follows: 4.6% hypodontia, 2.7% ectopic eruption, 1.63% taurodontism, 1.2% infra-occluded molars, 1.1% impacted teeth, 0.75% root dilaceration, and 0.65% supernumerary teeth. Significant correlations were found between gender and ectopic eruption (p = 0.02) and between medical history and hypodontia (p = 0.00), ectopic eruption (p = 0.048), and root dilaceration (p = 0.03). Conclusions: This study showed that hypodontia was the most common dental anomaly, followed by ectopic eruption and taurodontism. The findings of this study may guide dentists in better understanding, diagnosing, and treating dental anomalies in children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

(1) Background: Alkasite is a novel restorative material that has attracted interest in recent years because of its distinctive characteristics, including its high translucency and excellent biocompatibility. It is comparable to glass ionomer cement (GIC) and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) due to its fluoride-release ability and usage in esthetically concerned areas. This study aimed to assess the shear bond strength (SBS) of Alkasite restorative material in comparison with GIC and RMGIC (2) Methods: The study sample included 120 extracted sound primary molars and was randomly split into three groups, including group 1: RMGIC; group 2: Alkasite; and group 3: GIC. Each group was then sub-grouped into immediate and delayed loading. SBS was measured for each group using a universal testing machine. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc test and an independent t-test were used for statistical analyses (3) Results: The immediate SBS was higher in Alkasite, followed by RMGIC and GIC, with means of 10.84 ± 1.96, 10.64 ± 1.74, and 6.09 ± 1.75, respectively. However, there was no significant difference between Alkasite and RMGIC (p = 0.94), whereas RMGIC and Alkasite showed significantly higher values than GIC, with p < 0.0001. Regarding delayed SBS, no significant difference was noted between Alkasite and RMGIC (p = 0.14), whereas both showed significantly higher values than GIC, with mean values of 6.30 ± 1.44, 5.556 ± 1.38, and 3.29 ± 0.61, respectively (p < 0.0001). (4) Conclusions: Our findings show that RMGIC and Alkasite have comparable outcomes to each other and better outcomes when compared with conventional GIC.