Background: It is essential for practicing dentists to have adequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its implications in the dental practice. Their attitudes should also be up to the professional expectations. This study aimed to assess knowledge of HIV/AIDS infection and attitudes towards its patients among dental students in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among a sample of dental students in Saudi Arabia. Twenty questions related to knowledge, attitudes, and oral manifestation of HIV were presented. Results: A total of 405 questionnaires were completed (67% response rate). Participants showed low knowledge of safety regarding HIV (39.5%) and 44.2% indicated that they would take an HIV test after needle stick injury. The proportion of correct answers regarding transmission of HIV through saliva, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and aerosols by hand pieces was 41%, 37.5%, and 26.4%, respectively. Almost 50% of the surveyed dental students expressed unwillingness to treat HIV-positive patients. Poor knowledge was noted regarding oral manifestations of HIV (32.7%). Of the participants, 57.8% indicated that infection control procedures are very important for the treatment of HIV patients and 50.6% believed that a dentist can make a decision to reject the treatment of HIV patients. According to the participating dental students, the three major oral manifestations in HIV patients are hairy leukoplakia (47.4%), oral candidiasis (44.7%), and Kaposi’s sarcoma (43.5%). Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge and unprofessional attitude towards HIV/AIDS patients were identified among this group of dental students in Saudi Arabia. Dental educators and health care planners in Saudi Arabia should plan to promote the knowledge and attitudes of dental students in Saudi Arabia towards the treatment of HIV patients.

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a serious complication among dental patients undergoing treatment with antiresorptive medications such as bisphosphonate and denosumab. The present survey investigated the awareness and practice of dentists in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries regarding MRONJ. This questionnaire-based study was conducted among dental practitioners in all six GCC countries. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among all potential participants via different social media platforms. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis, and P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Overall, 1685 dentists from the six GCC countries participated in the present study. The surveyed dentists revealed relatively fair practices and awareness regarding MRONJ and its prevention, with the majority reported asking their patients about history of anti-osteoporotic medications (67.8%), recording name of the medication (73.1%) and duration of treatment (75.5%). However, the majority of the participants were unconfident about the duration of drug holiday prior to dental surgical interventions (70.6%) and the overall good level of knowledge/practice related to MRONJ was just 50.6%. The regression analysis revealed that previous exposure to MRONJ cases and attending a seminar, course, meeting, or conference about osteonecrosis of the jaw were independent predictors for positive awareness/good practice regarding MRONJ (P < 0.05). The results show inadequate awareness and practices of dentists practicing in GCC countries regarding MRONJ, with significant variations among the countries. Therefore, appropriate interventions such as periodic continuous education courses are required to improve dentists’ knowledge and practices regarding MRONJ.

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflam-matory disorder with a potential of malignant transformation. Despite the extensive research on the topic, the management of OLP is still quite challenging, with no definitive cure. Objective: The present systematic review assessed the efficacy of topical hyaluronic acid in the management of OLP. Material and Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar was carried out by two independent investigators. All randomized clinical trials that compared the efficacy of hyaluronic acid with other interventions and/or placebo in the management of OLP and fulfilled the following criteria were included: 1) OLP diagnosis was confirmed clinically and histopathologically, 2) the study included systemically healthy patients aged 15 years and older, 3) a minimum sample size of 10, and 4) reporting the main outcomes including pain, erythema, and ulcer size. Case reports, case series, reviews, animal studies, uncontrolled trials were excluded. Results: Four clinical trials involving 234 patients were included. Two studies compared hyaluronic acid with a topical corticosteroid, and two studies compared it with placebo. Only one of the four included studies was at low risk of bias. Overall, topical hyaluronic acid showed good efficacy in alleviating the signs and symptoms of OLP. Two studies found hyaluronic acid significantly more effective in reducing pain and improving clinical signs of OLP compared to placebo. Compared to topical corticosteroids, one study reported comparable results; and one study found hyaluronic acid to be superior to triamcinolone in reducing pain but inferior to triamcinolone in improving the healing time. Conclusion: The limited available evidence suggests that hyaluronic acid may have some benefits in the management of OLP. Further well-designed studies with adequate follow-up periods are highly recommended.

Background/purpose: Exploration of early practicing dental professionals' awareness and attitude toward inferior alveolar nerve block IANB will directly inform efforts to improve clinical practices and ensure patient safety. The aim was to highlight the students, interns, and junior dentists' awareness and attitude toward the IANB, failure, and related complications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Materials and methods: An open web-based survey prepared according to the Checklist for reporting results of Internet e-surveys CHERRIES recommendations was designed and carried out across different regions of the KSA. The questionnaire was composed of four main sections including the participant's details, and qualifications; inferior alveolar nerve block delivery; participants' education, and training-related questions; and attitudes toward proposed solutions to overcome the related failure and complications. Results: 262 participants completed the questionnaire (94 dental students, 79 interns, and 89 junior dentists). There was a significant difference in the following findings: males performed IANBs more frequently than females (P < 0.05); females, students, and private practice/University type showed less attendance to workshops and seminars on IANB with more need for training (P < 0.05); females were more in agreement with "continuous education courses"and "workshops done by specialists"to propose solutions to overcome IANB failure (P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that qualification and attendance of a training course were strong predictors of participants' readiness to manage IANB complications (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings emphasize how crucial it is for early dental practitioners to participate in continuing professional development programs to enhance their capacity to administer IANB and handle complications. 2024 Association for Dental Sciences of the Republic of China. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).