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Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has reshaped the global landscape as we know it and had a tremendous effect on healthcare systems around the world. However, its impact on oral healthcare is still to be fully assessed. The aim of this study was to understand if and how COVID-19 affected the demand and performance of oral healthcare, taking the Clinical and Academic Centre of Coimbra as an example, more specifically, the Department of Stomatology of the Coimbra Hospital and University Centre and the Dentistry Department of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra., Material and Methods: An observational study was designed for collecting the data of a series of key oral healthcare indicators: number of appointments; referrals from primary healthcare; missed appointments; number of surgeries performed in the operating room; number of biopsies; number of patients admitted through the emergency department and epidemiologic parameters over two 18-month periods between September 2018 and August 2021: pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latter divided in four stages. A statistical analysis which included descriptive and inferential procedures was then performed, with an established significance level of 5% and the application of parametric tests, t-Student test for a sample and for independent samples and One-Way ANOVA for the variance analysis., Results: There was a general decline in all indicators comparing the pre-COVID-19 with the COVID-19 period, with a reduction of 50.61% in the number of appointments, 44.06% in referrals, 24.41% in surgeries, 26.30% in biopsies and 32.33% in patients seen in the Emergency Room. The number of missed appointments also increased by 181.82%. All variations revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). The individual COVID-19 stage analysis, when compared with the pre-COVID-19 reference, and variance analysis of these different stages also showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001), except for the number of biopsies during the third and fourth stages., Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a considerable impact on oral healthcare demand and performance. However, results also show a remarkable adjustment and improvement in the provided care, with a positive evolution throughout the COVID-19 period.

The Gorlin-Goltz syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant hereditary condition, with complete penetrance and variable expressivity. Characterized by the appearance of multiple basaliomas, and often the development of keratocyst, it can also express itself by the presence of palmar/plantar depressions, calcification of brain sickle, and skeletal birth defects, although less frequently. This article presents two cases involving direct relatives, referred after the identification of several basaliomas and jaw cysts. After establishing the diagnosis, given the identification of three major criteria, the treatment consisted in the excision of the lesions followed, in one case, with vismodegib treatment resulting in complete remission. Gorlin-Goltz syndrome is therefore a multidisciplinary challenge, whose variable morbidity and high risk of recurrence make treatment and surveillance critical. However, new molecular targeted therapies have brought a new hope in treating these patients.

Introduction: In tissues and organs exposed to large pressure amplitude low frequency noise fibrosis occurs in the absence of inflammatory signs, which is thought to be a protective response. In the parotid gland the perivasculo-ductal connective tissue surrounds arteries, veins and the ductal tree. Perivasculo-ductal connective tissue is believed to function as a mechanical stabilizer of the glandular tissue., Material and Methods: In order to quantify the proliferation of perivasculo-ductal connective tissue in large pressure amplitude low frequency noise-exposed rats we used sixty Wistar rats which were equally divided into 6 groups. One group kept in silence, and the remaining five exposed to continuous large pressure amplitude low frequency noise: g1-168h (1 week); g2-504h (3 weeks); g3-840h (5 weeks); g4-1512h (9 weeks); and g5-2184h (13 weeks). After exposure, parotid glands were removed and the perivasculo-ductal connective tissue area was measured in all groups. We applied ANOVA statistical analysis, using SPSS 13.0., Results: The global trend is an increase in the average perivasculo-ductal connective tissue areas, that develops linearly and significantly with large pressure amplitude low frequency noise exposure time (p < 0.001)., Discussion: It has been suggested that the biological response to large pressure amplitude low frequency noise exposure is associated with the need to maintain structural integrity. The structural reinforcement would be achieved by increased perivasculo-ductal connective tissue., Conclusions: Hence, these results show that in response to large pressure amplitude low frequency noise exposure, rat parotid glands increase their perivasculo-ductal connective tissue.