Introduction The elderly are among those most affected by Covid-19, and among them are people with Parkinson's disease. Social distancing, due to the coronavirus, has led to new strategies and tools for health monitoring. Objective To describe the oral health conditions, using telemonitoring, of people with Parkinson's disease during the Covid-19 pandemic. Material and method This is an analytical, quantitative, cross-sectional study. The tool used was the video call. The telephone contacts (n=154) were obtained from lists of patients in the Pro-Parkinson Extension Program at the Federal University of Pernambuco. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather sociodemographic data and daily oral hygiene practices for teeth and dentures, and whether or not the participant needed dental treatment, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Result The final sample consisted of 64 Parkinsonian patients. Regarding oral health care, the frequency of hygiene in this period was three times a day among 48.44% of participants, with toothbrush and toothpaste being the items most used for this task. More than half of the sample used dental prostheses. The most common oral health problems during this isolation period were pain, mouth sores and the need for tooth extraction. Conclusion Telemonitoring was essential because it was noted that these patients were deficient in their knowledge of basic hygiene practices and in information on oral health, as well as in the care of dental prostheses.
Studies assessing the long-term effects of brushing with cleaning and disinfecting agents on surface roughness and biofilm accumulation on the three-dimensionally (3D) printed resins remain scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different solutions and simulated brushing times on the surface roughness and biofilm formation on heat-cured and 3D-printed denture base resins. Discs samples (10 mm × 1.2 mm) were prepared and randomly assigned to brushing treatments using the following solutions: distilled water, disinfectant liquid soap and dentifrice. The specimens (n = 9) were subjected to 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 cycles to simulate 1, 2 and 5 years of brushing, respectively. The control group consisted of unbrushed samples. Surface roughness (Ra) was measured. Candida albicans biofilm formation was evaluated by counting colony forming units, cellular metabolic activity, and qualitative and quantitative analysis through confocal fluorescence microscopy. A significant increase in roughness was observed in both resins after two years of simulated brushing, mainly with dentifrice. After two years of brushing, an increase in the number of cells and metabolism of C. albicans was observed, in agreement with the fluorescence and biofilm thickness results. Brushing with dentifrice increased the roughness of heat-cured and 3D-printed resins and potentially increased C. albicans biofilm formation.
1 January 2021 in Pesquisa Brasileira em Odontopediatria e Clínica Integrada
Objective: To describe the sociodemographic profile of elderly people with temporomandibular disorder and depression in Parkinson's disease cases. Material and Methods: It is a cross-sectional cohort cut study, which used secondary data from 124 elderly people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). To diagnose temporomandibular disorder (TMD), the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) questionnaire was used, and the variables studied were: age, sex, race, education, marital status, family income, stage of the disease, and depression. The statistical analysis performed was descriptive and used absolute numbers and a frequency count. Results: After the application of the eligibility criteria, the patient records of 81 elderly people with Parkinson’s disease were selected; 15 presented associated TMD and depression. The average age was 69 years old; 66.67% were male; 46.67% had more than 9 years of schooling; 60% were married or had a partner; 53.33% received between 1 and 2 minimum wages; 33.33% stated they were brown; 80% were in the moderate stage of the disease; 46.66% were in group II according to the RDC/TMD, presenting disk displacement; and 53.33% presented severe depression. Conclusion: It was verified that the elderly people with Parkinson’s and associated TMD and depression were male, married or with a partner, on a low income, with nine or more years of schooling, and were in the moderate stage of the disease.
Purpose: to analyze the predictors of temporomandibular disorder in people with Parkinson’s disease, verifying their associations with sociodemographic aspects and stages of the disease. Methods: a study based on secondary data from research conducted in 2017 with 110 people with Parkinson’s disease. They were assessed with the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders and the Parkinson’s disease staging scale. The studied predictive variables for temporomandibular disorder were pain, crepitation, clicking, nighttime and daytime clenching/gnashing, uncomfortable/non-habitual bite, morning rigidity, and tinnitus. The sociodemographic aspects assessed were age, sex, schooling level, marital status, income, and stages 1 to 3 of the disease. The chi-squared odds ratio was used with a 95% confidence interval and significance level at p < 0.05. Results: an association was verified between nighttime clenching/gnashing and income (p = 0.006); tinnitus and income range from ½ to 3 (p = 0.003) and from 4 to 10 minimum wages (p = 0.004); and between tinnitus and stage 1 (p = 0.02). Conclusion: this study verified that the predictors associated with temporomandibular disorder in people with Parkinson’s disease were pain, clicking, crepitation, uncomfortable/non-habitual bite, and morning rigidity. It was verified that income and stage 1 of the disease had an association with nighttime clenching/gnashing and tinnitus.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the level of digital health literacy among dental students at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, and to verify its association with sociodemographic characteristics and program cycle (basic or professional). Material and method: This cross-sectional, descriptive, quantitative study was conducted between September 2024 and August 2025. Digital health literacy (DHL), refers to the ability to recognize and critically evaluate health information from different digital formats and sources. It assessed the participants with the eHealth Literacy Scale, composed of eight items with a total score of 8 to 40 points, classifying them into low, moderate, or high levels. The independent variables included sociodemographic data and program cycle (basic or professional). Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test and odds ratio calculation, with a 5% significance level. Result: The sample consisted of 325 students, of whom 56% had a moderate literacy level. The program cycle was significantly associated with the levels of digital health literacy (p<0.001). Students in the basic cycle had lower odds of having moderate (61.4%) or high (81.3%) levels of digital health literacy compared with those in the professional cycle. Conclusion: A significant portion of students had a moderate level of digital health literacy, and the program cycle was associated with the level of digital health literacy, showing that progression in academic training can contribute positively to DHL development.