Animal-assisted therapy aimed at improving individuals’ mental or physical health has been widely reported. However, the data on how a therapy dog could help control anxiety during dental procedures is scarce. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of dog-assisted therapy on people with a history of dental anxiety while receiving preventive dental treatment. Twelve adults participated (women: n = 11 (91.7%) and men: n = 1 (8.3%), mean age = 31.25 years, D.E. = 5.78). The Corah Dental Anxiety Scale was applied, the patient’s mood was assessed with a Likert scale before and after receiving the dental treatment, and their blood pressure was recorded for each of the three stages of treatment. A therapy dog accompanied the participants during the dental procedure. The main results indicated that a decrease in discomfort was perceived during the intervention, and there was also an improvement in the patient’s evaluation of the experience. The results are based on the decrease in patients’ blood pressure when taken in the middle of the dental treatment.

Bruxism is a jaw muscle activity that involves physio-pathological, psycho‑social, hereditary and genetic factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between self‑reported bruxism, anxiety, and neuroticism personality trait with the rs6313 polymorphism in the gene HTR2A. A sample of 171 subjects of both sexes (14‑53 years of age) was included. The control group (group 1, n=60) exhibited no signs or symptoms of bruxism. The case group had signs and symptoms of bruxism (n=112) and was subdivided into group 2, bruxism during sleep (n=22); group 3, awake bruxism (n=44); and group 4 combined bruxism (n=46). As diagnostic tools, the Self‑Reported Bruxism Questionnaire (SBQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised‑Abbreviated (EPQR‑A) were used. HTR2A (rs6313) SNPs were determined by qPCR for all the participants. The packages SPSS, maxLik and EPI‑INFO were used for data analysis. The combined bruxism group reported higher scores in bruxism symptoms, mean = 32.21; anxiety symptoms, mean = 14.80; and neuroticism, mean = 3.26. Combined bruxism was associated with a higher degree of neuroticism (OR=15.0; CI 1.52‑148.32) and anxiety in grade 3‑moderate (OR=3.56; CI 1.27‑10.03), and grade 4‑severe (OR=8.40; CI 1.45‑48.61), as determined using EPISODE computer software. Genotypic homogeneity analysis revealed no significant differences in allele frequency (P=0.612) among the four groups. The population was in Hardy‑Weinberg equilibrium (maxLik package). In conclusion, the three instruments confirm traits of bruxism, anxiety and neuroticism in individuals with bruxism. These data were ratified when the sample was divided by genotypic homo­geneity. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the groups in the SNPs rs6313 from the HTR2A gene.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the economic, social, and oral care health inequities in societies, especially in the developing world. Severe restrictions have been imposed on dental practices, limiting prophylactic and routine oral care health, allowing treatment only for emergencies. Since dental care includes procedures that generate aerosols, the risk of infection for dental personnel has increased significantly. In this review, a comprehensive and updated source of information about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and the impacts it is having on oral health care is presented. The ongoing repercussions in dental practice and in dental education, including the opportunities for practice innovation that are evolving, are also indicated. Also, a discussion of the psychosocial factors that affect health and the quality of life of an individual, such as stress, depression, and anxiety, is provided. This pandemic may be an opportunity to promote the inclusion of well-established prevention measures, together with the use of teledentistry in academic dental curricula, encourage the implementation of new perspectives for the effective instruction and interactions with students, and foster the transition toward e-learning strategies in dental education.

Cuestionario de bruxismo autoinformado. Estudio piloto en el noreste de México

El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar la relación entre la ansiedad y el manejo inadecuado de las emociones negativas en personas con síntomas de bruxismo, en una muestra de 192 participantes, separados en grupos sin bruxismo (n = 64) y bruxismo (n = 128), dividido este en los subgrupos bruxismo de sueño (n = 26), bruxismo en vigilia (n = 52) y bruxismo combinado (n = 50). Se utilizó un método descriptivo, no experimental y transversal. Se aplicó el Cuestionario de autoinforme de bruxismo (SBQ), el Inventario de ansiedad de Beck (BAI) y el Inventario de estrategias de afrontamiento (CSI). El análisis estadístico se realizó mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, con estadísticos de bondad de ajuste de valores adecuados. Los resultados muestran una asociación fuerte y positiva entre el afrontamiento inadecuado, los síntomas de ansiedad y el bruxismo autoinformado. Las estrategias autocritica y retirada social tienen efecto directo sobre los síntomas de ansiedad afectivo-cognitivos y somáticos, y estos síntomas predicen los síntomas clínicos de bruxismo. The aim of this paper was to assess the relationship between anxiety and the mismanagement of negative emotions in people with bruxism symptoms. A total of 192 participants were included and divided into non-bruxism (n = 64) and bruxism (n = 128) groups. The bruxism group was subdivided into sleep bruxism (n = 26), awake bruxism (n = 52), and combined bruxism (n = 50). A non-experimental and cross-sectional descriptive method was used. The self-reported bruxism questionnaire (SBQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI) were used. Statistical analysis was performed using structural equation modelling and the goodness of fit figures presented adequate values. Results showed a strong positive association between inadequate coping, anxiety symptoms and self-reported bruxism. The model showed that self-criticism and social withdrawal strategies have a direct effect on affective-cognitive and somatic anxiety symptoms; these symptoms predicted the clinical symptoms of bruxism.

Objetivo. Evaluar tres técnicas para el manejo de conducta: Desensibilización Sistemática (DS), Método Treament and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) y la técnica Decir, Mostrar, Hacer (DMH), durante la atención dental a personas con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA). Métodos. Participaron 18 personas del Noreste de México con diagnóstico de TEA, con un rango de 13 a 15 años divididos en tres grupos según la técnica TEACCH, DS y DMH con seis personas por grupo. A los participantes se les realizó una profilaxis dental empleando la técnica de manejo de conducta y comunicación según el grupo, la conducta se evaluó usando las escalas Frankl´s Behavior Rating Scale (FBRS) y Comfort Behavior Scale (CBS). Se usaron las pruebas Chi cuadrado, ANOVA y t de Student para comparar los resultados. Resultados. La conducta evaluada con la escala de Frankl, fue definitivamente positiva en los grupos TEACCH (33,3%) y DS (16,7%). Conducta positiva semejante en los tres grupos (66,7%). Conducta negativa semejante en DS y DMH (16,7%). Conducta definitivamente negativa solo en el grupo DMH (16,7%). En la escala CBS, solo el grupo DMH presentó aumento del tono muscular (p= 0,013) y tensión facial no sostenida (p= 0,001), al compararlo con TEACCH y DS. Conclusiones. Las tres tecnicas utilizadas son efectivas para el manejo de conducta de las personas con TEA durante el tratamiento dental, sin embargo en la técnica DMH se observó conducta definitivamente negativa y respuesta corporal-conductual que refleja tensión emocional.