Objectives: This systematic review aimed to evaluate general dentists and dental specialists’ knowledge regarding obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnosis, referral, risk factors, and treatment. Methods: A systematic search of databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, and ProQuest, was conducted for studies published up to 25 September 2023, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria included cross-sectional studies that assessed the knowledge of general dentists or dental specialists. A quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Results: The seven included studies demonstrated varied knowledge levels among respondents regarding polysomnography as the gold standard for diagnosing OSA, with percentages ranging from 40.18% to 90%. While recognition of craniofacial structure as a risk factor for OSA was consistently high, knowledge about body weight as a risk factor varied. Additionally, the understanding of continuous positive airway pressure as the standard treatment showed discrepancies across the studies. Conclusions: Given that some of the included articles displayed a moderate to high risk of bias, the results highlight the varying levels of OSA knowledge among dentists and specialists across the studies. This indicates a potential need for targeted educational programs to improve their understanding and management of OSA.

Postgraduate pediatric dental residents' competency, to perform dental rehabilitation procedures under General anesthesia (GA), at different levels of training is challenging for operation time control. An adequate operation time (OT) for children decreases morbidity risk and improves hospital time utilization efficiency. The aim of the study is to assess the effect of pediatric dental resident training level on OT for pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures under GA at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC). A cross-sectional study included pediatric dental rehabilitation performed under GA by pediatric dental residents at (KAMC) -Jeddah from October/2015 to September/2022. The primary outcome was OT, and the predictive variable was resident training levels. A linear regression analysis was used to compare OT between procedures performed by junior (years 1–2) or senior (years 3–4) trainees, adjusting for patient and operative factors. One thousand seven pediatric dental rehabilitation cases were performed under GA by junior (13) and senior (31) residents. The univariant analysis indicated that OT for senior residents was significantly longer (13 min) than for junior residents. However, the linear regression analysis showed that senior residents had a significantly shorter OT when considering the more dental procedures performed per case under GA than junior residents. Senior residents took significantly more radiographs and performed more primary pulp therapies and multi-surface anterior colored restorations under GA than junior residents. The OT for pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures under GA is associated with resident training level. The total OT was significantly longer based on procedure number, type, and resident level. The study indicated that senior residents could manage more complex cases in a shorter time. The finding emphasizes the importance of assigning GA cases to residents based on their level and the case's complexity. Additionally, it helps standardize the resident privileges under GA and understand the impact of residency training on hospital efficiency.

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether coffee consumption affects the efficacy or onset time of local anesthesia (LA) in healthy adults using electric pulp testing (EPT). Method: A single-blinded, randomized, exploratory pilot crossover clinical trial was conducted at the dental hospital at Umm Al-Qura University. Ten healthy participants (five females, five males; aged 18–30 years) with intact upper premolars were included. Each participant served as both the intervention (coffee) and control (no coffee) group within one month. In the intervention session, participants consumed one cup of instant coffee containing approximately 45–50 mg of caffeine, a low-to-moderate caffeine dose, and waited 20 min before testing. EPT was used to assess pulpal anesthesia following administration of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine. EPT measurements were recorded pre- and post-LA. Effectiveness was compared using McNemar’s test, and onset time was analyzed using paired t-tests. Results: All participants achieved complete pulpal anesthesia (maximum EPT reading = 64) in both coffee and no-coffee sessions. This uniform response produced a measurement ceiling effect, precluding meaningful statistical comparison. The mean pre-LA EPT readings were 20.4 ± 6.9 (range 9–31.3) for the control group and 24.3 ± 7.2 (range 14–37.3) for the coffee group. Both groups achieved anesthesia within approximately two minutes. Conclusion: From this preliminary study, coffee consumption did not affect the onset or effectiveness of local anesthesia in healthy adults. Within the limitations of this small crossover pilot study, these findings indicate no observable difference, though not definitive equivalence. Larger-scale studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary results.

Background General anesthesia (GA) is the most frequently used pharmacological intervention in pediatric dental care. Postgraduate pediatric dental residents must perform a variety of pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures under GA at different levels of training. An adequate operation time (OT) decreases morbidity risk and improves hospital time utilization efficiency. The aim of the study is to assess the effect of pediatric dental resident training level on OT for pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures under GA. Methods A cross-sectional study of data from all pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures that were performed under GA by pediatric dental residents at KAMC-Jeddah from 2015 to 2022 was conducted. The primary outcome was OT, and the predictive variable was resident training levels. A linear regression analysis was used to compare OT between procedures performed by junior (years 1–2) or senior (years 3–4) trainees, adjusting for patient and operative factors. Results A total of 1007 pediatric dental rehabilitation cases were performed under GA by junior (25%) and senior (65%) residents. The univariant analysis indicated that senior residents had significantly longer OTs (13 minutes) than junior residents. However, after considering significant variables, the linear regression analysis showed that senior residents had a significantly shorter OT and performed significantly more dental procedures than junior residents. Senior residents took significantly more radiographs and performed significantly more primary pulp therapies and multisurface anterior colored restorations under GA than junior residents. Conclusions The OT for pediatric dental rehabilitation procedures under GA is associated with resident training level. The total operation time was significantly longer based on procedure number, type, and resident level. This finding highlights the importance of assigning procedures that require GA to residents based on their level and the complexity of the case. Additionally, it evaluates residents’ competency development and assesses the impact of residency training programs on hospital efficiency. Trial registration: The KAIMRC Internal Review Board (IRB/1514/22) registered this cross-sectional chart review.