The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in academic teaching and dental education, but the impact on dental professors' mental health and quality of life remains poorly understood. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of social distancing and online teaching related to COVID-19 on the quality of life and anxiety of Brazilian dental professors. This was a cross-sectional study conducted from August 2020 to October 2020. Three instruments were used in an online version: a questionnaire about personal data, academic information and online teaching activities, the Generalized Anxiety Disorders 7 (GAD7) scale, and the Abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-bref) scale. All instruments were sent by e-mail, social media, and messaging apps to private and public universities and professors. Of the 318 responses, 187 (58.8%) were from female professors. Moreover, lack of good internet access and adequate place for online teaching, difficulties in producing teaching materials, and housework roles had a significant impact on the quality of life and anxiety scores (all p-values < 0.05). Also, Brazilian dental professors who declared that they would make greater efforts if the activities were face-to-face had significantly worse quality of life and anxiety scores, and female professors had significantly higher anxiety scores (all p-values < 0.05). These results provide evidence of a negative effect of social distancing and online teaching activities related to COVID-19 outbreak on the health-related quality of life and mental health of Brazilian dental professors.

Aim: To evaluate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on undergraduate and graduate students of the Dental School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Methods: Three questionnaires were used: sociodemographic, WHO Abbreviated Quality of Life Inventory, and General Anxiety Disorder-7. Data were analyzed using Graph Pad Prism 7a (α = 5%). Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post-tests were used for statistical comparisons. The Spearman test was used as the correlation test. Results: 257 students responded to the online form that assessed their quality of life and anxiety level. On a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 being the best quality of life, the average obtained was 64.71 (± 13.36). In addition, 87.6% of the students rated their quality of life as good or very good. 74.7% reported good or very good health. The anxiety analysis resulted in an average of 10.04 (± 4.5), indicating moderate anxiety levels. There was an inversely proportional correlation between age and degree of anxiety (p = 0.008, r = -0.1628) and self-perceived learning and student commitment (r = 0.69). Conclusion: Despite the good quality of life and the students’ good self-perception of health, they showed a moderate degree of anxiety during the social distancing caused by COVID-19, also demonstrating a decrease in interest and commitment during distance education.

This in vitro study evaluated the effect of proanthocyanidin, palm oil, and vitamin E against initial erosion. Bovine enamel blocks (n = 140) were divided into 14 groups: C+_SnCl2/NaF/Am-F-containing solution (positive control); C-_deionized water (negative control); O_palm oil; P6.5_6.5% proanthocyanidin; P2_2% proanthocyanidin; E_Vitamin E (97.8% oily tocopherol acetate); OP6.5_palm oil + 6.5% proanthocyanidin; P6.5O_6.5% proanthocyanidin + palm oil; OP2_palm oil + 2% proanthocyanidin; P2O_2% proanthocyanidin + palm oil; EP6.5_Vitamin E + 6.5% proanthocyanidin; P6.5E_6.5% proanthocyanidin + Vitamin E; EP2_Vitamin E + 2% proanthocyanidin; P2E_2% proanthocyanidin + Vitamin E. The acquired enamel pellicle (AEP) was previously formed in situ for 30 min. The specimens were treated in vitro with the solutions (500 µL, 30s). Then, the blocks were maintained for an additional hour in oral cavity to develop the modified AEP. The blocks were immersed in 0.5% citric acid (pH 2.5) during 30s. The response variable was the percentage of surface hardness loss (%SHL). Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Fisher’s LSD test (p<0.05). P6.5E (12±7_%SHL) was the only group that promoted similar protection to C+ (11±8_%SHL). O (17±13_%SHL), P2 (20±10_%SHL), OP6.5 (19±12_%SHL), P2O (21±13_%SHL), P6.5E (12±7_%SHL), and P2E (19±9_%SHL) exhibited %SHL similar to both C+ and C- (25±10_%SHL) groups (p<0.05). P6.5 (23±11_%SHL), E (27±8_%SHL), P6.5O (24±13_%SHL), OP2 (27±12_%SHL), EP6.5 (24±11_%SHL), and EP2 (26±11_%SHL) were different to C+ and similar to C-. It was concluded that the combination of 6.5% proanthocyanidin and vitamin E (P6.5E) was the most effective strategy against enamel erosion, aligning closely with the positive control.