Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, diabetes, cancer and diseases of the oral cavity such as caries or periodontitis represent a global and highly relevant problem due to demographic and epidemiological changes. NCDs are not only responsible for millions of deaths worldwide, but they cause relevant costs for national economies arise for the health care of societies. Assuming that oral health and general health are directly linked, emerging interactions between systemic and oral diseases are increasingly being researched. Common important risk factors have implications for economic, social, and moral determinants of health. Interdisciplinarity trained oral health professionals are needed to address the excessively high rates of inequities in oral health. The main reason that oral diseases are still a global health problem is related to mainly individual subjective high-risk approaches, which resulting in high costs and low effectiveness. A paradigm shift for a public health approach is needed at population level that integrates different health professionals who deal with NCDs. Oral care, like physical activity, is one of the most important lifestyle-related determinants of health. Widespread recognition of this kind of approach is critical to both reducing the impact of oral and non-oral NCDs. A multi-sectoral, comprehensive and integrated strategy is therefore necessary. The focus should be on social, environmental and population strategies, but should also support individual strategies.

The objective of this study was to propose a root canal configuration description method and to investigate the root canal system morphology of the maxillary first molar by means of micro-computed tomographic imaging. The root canal configuration, foramina, and accessory canal frequency of 179 maxillary first molars were investigated by means of micro-computed tomographic imaging and 3-dimensional software imaging. The root canal configuration and main foramina number are described from coronal to apical with a 4-digit system. The most frequent root canal configurations were 1-1-1/1 (45.8%), 2-2-2/2 (25.1%) and 2-2-1/1 (10.1%) in mesiobuccal roots and 1-1-1/1 in distobuccal (97.2%) and palatal (98.9%) roots. The first mesiobuccal (MB1) root canal had 1 accessory canal in 26.3% of the teeth, the distobuccal root canal had 12.3%, and the palatal root canal had 9.5%; in the second mesiobuccal root canal, there was rarely 1 accessory canal. There was 1 accessory canal in 26.3%, 12.3%, and 9.5% in the MB1, distobuccal, and palatal root canals, respectively. The MB1, distobuccal, and palatal root canals had 1 main foramen. The MB2 had 1 main foramen in 39.0% of the teeth and no main foramen in 61.0%. The root canal configuration of maxillary first molars is quite diversified. Contrary to our expectations in this research, the mesiobuccal root has predominantly 1 root canal entrance and only 1 main foramen. Anatomic variations including connecting and accessory canals occur in any third of root.

The association between vitamins and oral health have recently been discussed, yielding increased attention from medical and dental perspectives. The present review aimed to systematically evaluate and appraise the most recently scientific papers investigating the role of vitamins in the prevention and treatment of the main oral diseases as hard dental pathological processes and gum/periodontal disease. Randomized controlled trials, cross-sectional studies, cohort studies, comparative studies, validation studies and evaluation studies, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, reporting associations between vitamins and oral diseases or the use of vitamins to prevent or treat oral diseases in patients of any age were included. PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched to November 2019 using an ad hoc prepared search string. All the papers meeting the inclusion criteria were subjected to a quality assessment. The search identified 1597 papers; 741 were selected after removing duplicates. A total of 334 articles were excluded after title and abstract evaluation; 407 were assessed and 73 papers were full-text assessed; other 14 papers were discharged after full text evaluation, leaving finally 58 papers included. In general, there is weak evidence supporting the association between vitamins and both gingival/periodontal disease and hard dental pathological processes.

Hypnosis has proven a powerful method in indications such as pain control and anxiety reduction. As recently discussed, it has been yielding increased attention from medical/dental perspectives. This systematic review (PROSPERO-registration-ID-CRD42021259187) aimed to critically evaluate and discuss functional changes in brain activity using hypnosis by means of different imaging techniques. Randomized controlled trials, cohort, comparative, cross-sectional, evaluation and validation studies from three databases—Cochrane, Embase and Medline via PubMed from January 1979 to August 2021—were reviewed using an ad hoc prepared search string and following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 10,404 articles were identified, 1194 duplicates were removed and 9190 papers were discarded after consulting article titles/abstracts. Ultimately, 20 papers were assessed for eligibility, and 20 papers were included after a hand search (n^total = 40). Despite a broad heterogenicity of included studies, evidence of functional changes in brain activity using hypnosis was identified. Electromyography (EMG) startle amplitudes result in greater activity in the frontal brain area; amplitudes using Somatosensory Event-Related Potentials (SERPs) showed similar results. Electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations of θ activity are positively associated with response to hypnosis. EEG results showed greater amplitudes for highly hypnotizable subjects over the left hemisphere. Less activity during hypnosis was observed in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Extended exposure to high-speed handpieces and other noise-intensive devices might put dentists at risk for possible hearing impairment. The aim of this study was to determine the hearing ability of dentists and other scientists for comparison.

Vital pulp therapy (VPT) has been recently proposed as an alternative approach even in symptomatic mature permanent teeth with deep caries’ lesions, aiming to maintain the pulp vitality over time and/or to avoid non-surgical root canal therapy (NSRCT). However, to date, the diagnosis of reversible or irreversible pulpitis is only based on clinical pain quantity and quality, without precisely reflecting the pulp inflammation status. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide an overview based on the current scientific literature to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of VPT on mature permanent teeth, validating the use of hydraulic calcium silicate-based cements and their role in pain management. VPT may be successfully applied not only in mature permanent teeth diagnosed with reversible pulpitis, but also in permanent dental elements with signs and symptoms of irreversible pulpitis. Hydraulic cements showed favorable outcomes in terms of decrease of pro-inflammatory mediators and of post-operative pain. Pain plays a central role in the chance to perform VPT in mature permanent teeth, since it may be considered as a pre-operative diagnostic criterion as well as a treatment success parameter. In addition, proper assessment of pulp inflammation and choice of appropriate materials are key factors in enhancing VPT success.