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Aim: To evaluate the impact of online social networks (OSN) as resources for promoting behaviour changes related to the prevention and promotion of oral health., Methods: This was a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials identified in databases (MEDLINE/Embase/Lilacs), published up until May 2022, and prepared according to Cochrane recommendations. Studies that used OSN (WhatsApp ® , Telegram ® , TikTok ® , Facebook ® , Twitter ® , YouTube ® , Instagram ® , Soundcloud ® , Flickr ® , LinkedIn ® , and Webradio ® ) were included. The protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42021248045)., Results: In total, 3171 studies were evaluated, of which 12 studies met the inclusion criteria for the review and contained data on 1669 participants. The most frequently investigated OSN were WhatsApp ® , followed by Telegram ® , and YouTube ® . All studies included were at high risk of bias. Data extraction allowed the meta-analysis of gingival index (GI) and oral health knowledge (OHK) outcomes for young people. Findings revealed that young people exposed to digital interventions via OSN showed a reduction in GI when compared with traditional educational interventions. This reduction occurred in all young people (standardized mean difference, -0.48; 95% CI, -0.75 to -0.21; p = 0.0006, I 2 = 0%; very low certainty), including those who were undergoing orthodontic treatment (standardized mean difference, -0.58; 95% CI, -0.92 to -0.24; p = 0.0008, I 2 = 0%; very low certainty). Furthermore, young people undergoing orthodontic treatment and exposed to OSN showed an increase in OHK when compared with participation in traditional educational interventions (standardized mean difference, +0.86; 95% CI, +0.46 to +1.26; p < 0.0001, I 2 = 0%; very low certainty)., Conclusion: OSN could be effective tools for improving oral health outcomes in young people., Competing Interests: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 CDHA | ACHD.)

The scope of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of malocclusion (MO), estimate the prevalence and evaluate the associated factors in adolescents. It was a study with results of 5,558 adolescents aged 15 to 19 from the São Paulo Oral Health (SB) 2015 survey. The outcome was MO. Sociodemographic aspects, access to dental services, dental caries and tooth loss were the independent variables. A total of 162 municipalities in the state of São Paulo were included and spatial statistics techniques were applied. Hierarchical logistic regression models were performed. The prevalence of MO was 29.3%. There was a spread pattern between the types of MO and positive detachment (p<0,05). Non-white adolescents (OR=1.32, 95%CI: 1.24-1.42), with less years of schooling (OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.22-1.42), with teeth extracted due to caries (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.03-1.88) were more likely to have MO. Adolescent access to dental consultation did not contribute to reducing the chance of developing MO, regardless of whether the dental consultation occurred less (OR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.65-2.47) or more than one year before (OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.31-2.03). Thus, the occurrence of MO is unequally distributed in the state of São Paulo and associated with sociodemographic conditions, access to consultations and tooth loss due to caries.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the associations of oral health literacy (OHL), sense of coherence (SOC) and other covariates with self-reported school performance (SRSP) in adolescents enrolled in public schools in Brazil., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with adolescents aged from 14 to 18 years enrolled in 6 public schools in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Researchers carried out data collection at schools using a self-administered structured questionnaire. The dependent variable was SRSP. The explanatory factors included were sociodemographic characteristics, OHL, SOC, self-rated oral health, health behaviors, and experience of bullying. Analyses included simple and multiple logistic regression models., Results: The final sample consisted of 385 adolescents with a mean age of 16 years. Poor school performance was associated (95%CI) with being male, with more than 1 sibling, individual whose last visit to the dentist was due to dental pain, with a lower level of OHL and SOC., Conclusions: OHL and SOC were important factors associated with SRSP performance together with other sociodemographic and oral health-related variables in high school students. Our findings reinforce the importance of intersectoral actions between the health and education sectors to promote better school performance among adolescents, including actions to improve OHL and SOC., (© 2022, American School Health Association.)

This study aimed to investigate the association between Oral Health Literacy (OHL) and dental outcomes. A sample of 920 adults above 18 years of age living in areas covered by 10 Family Health Units (FHUs) in a large city in São Paulo state, Brazil, was included. OHL was assessed using the short-form Health Literacy in Dentistry Scale (HeLD-14). Data on sociodemographic factors, oral health, and general health were obtained through a structured questionnaire. The investigated outcomes "tooth loss" and "reason for the last dental appointment" were evaluated using self-reported data. Simple logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations between each independent factor and outcomes. Factors that presented a significance level of ≤0.20 in the bivariate analysis were included in the hierarchical multiple logistic regression models. Participants with an education level up to high school, low OHL, and poor/fair self-rated oral health had 1.35 (95%CI, 1.01-1.80), 1.48 (95%CI, 1.12-1.95), and 1.46 (95%CI, 1.11-1.92) times more probability to report missing teeth, respectively. Adults from families with lower monthly income, low OHL, and poor/fair self-rated oral health had 1.70 (95%CI, 1.29-2.26), 1.89 (95%CI, 1.42-2.51), and 1.73 (95%CI, 1.30-2.30) times more chance, respectively, to have gone to the last dental appointment due to pain or caries. Adults with low OHL levels are more likely to have missing teeth and have gone to the last dental visit for pain, reinforcing the importance of OHL as an important determinant for promoting oral health.

Objective: To evaluate the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on procedures performed by a public urgent dental care service (PUDS)., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, using data from the PUDS in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, prior to the pandemic (February-March 2020) and during the pandemic (March-April 2020). Differences in the care profile between the pre-COVID-19 period and the COVID-19 period, according to sex, age and dental procedures were analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square test. Effect size was also measured using Cramer's V., Results: There was a 51% reduction in the number of visits between the pre-COVID-19 period (n=824) and the COVID-19 period (n=404). The percentage of extractions reduced from 14.7% to 8.9%, while the percentage of temporary cavity fillings increased from 22.9% to 33.2%, between the two periods., Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had repercussions on the amount and pattern of procedures performed at the city's urgent dental care service.

The literature has shown that there is no consensus regarding the best resin composite photoactivation protocol. This study evaluated the efficiency of the conventional, soft-start, pulse-delay and exponential protocols for photoactivation of resin composites in reducing the shrinkage stress and temperature variation during the photopolymerisation. The photoactivation processes were performed using a photocuring unit and a smartphone app developed to control the irradiance according each photoactivation protocol. These photoactivation methods were evaluated applying photoactivation energies recommended by the resins manufactures. Three brands of resin composites were analysed: Z-250, Charisma and Ultrafill. The cure effectiveness was evaluated through depth of cure experiments. All results were statistically evaluated using one-way and multi-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA). The use of exponential and pulse-delay methods resulted in a significant reduction of the shrinkage stress for all evaluated resins; however, the pulse-delay method required too long a photoactivation time. The increases on the temperature were lower when the exponential photoactivation was applied; however, the temperature variation for all photoactivation protocols was not enough to cause damage in the restoration area. The evaluation of the depth of cure showed that all photoactivation protocols resulted in cured resins with equivalent hardness, indicating that the choice of an alternative photoactivation protocol did not harm the polymerisation. In this way, the results showed the exponential protocol as the best photoactivation technique for practical applications.