1,720,985 research outputs found
Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Oral Health Care Sciences: A Conceptual Review
No full textBackground/Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved from experimental algorithms to transformative tools in clinical dentistry. Between 2020 and 2025, advances in machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have reshaped diagnostic imaging, caries detection, prosthodontic design, and teledentistry, while raising new ethical and regulatory
challenges. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive bibliometric and conceptual review of AI applications in dental care, highlighting research trends, thematic clusters, and future directions for equitable and responsible integration of AI technologies. In addition, the review further considers the implications of AI adoption for patient-centered care, including its potential role in supporting shared decision-making processes in oral healthcare. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Embase for articles published between January 2020 and October 2025 using AI-related keywords in dentistry. Eligible records were analyzed using VOSviewer (v.1.6.20) to map co-occurrence networks of keywords, authors, and citations. A narrative synthesis complemented the bibliometric mapping, emphasizing conceptual and ethical dimensions of AI adoption in oral health care. Results: A total of 50 documents met the inclusion criteria. Bibliometric network visualization identified that the largest and most interconnected clusters were centered around the keywords “artificial intelligence,” “machine learning,” and “deep learning,” reflecting the technological backbone of AI-based applications in dentistry. Thematic evolution analysis indicated increasing interest in generative and multimodal AI models, explainability, and fairness in clinical deployment. Conclusions: AI has become a core driver of innovation in dentistry, enabling precision diagnostics and personalized care. However, responsible translation requires robust validation, transparency, and ethical oversight. Future research should integrate interdisciplinary approaches linking AI performance, patient outcomes, and equity in oral health
Oral health inequalities in Italian schoolchildren
No full textObjective: To evaluate which of indicators of socio-economic status (SES) has the strongest association with caries status in a 6-years-old population: the educational level of each parent (individual-level); the mean price of housing/m2 in the area where the family resides; or the mean per capita income in the area where the family lives (area-level).
Method: The study was carried out in Sassari and in nine small surrounding towns. Caries was recorded in 2,040 schoolchildren using decayed/missed/filled surface index at d3 level in primary dentition. Parents filled in a standardized questionnaire regarding nationality, level of education, frequency of dental check-up, child’s previous experience to dentist, perception of child’s oral health and child’s oral hygiene habits. In data analysis, Sassari was considered an urban area, while the mean income of the nine surrounding towns was considered typical of a non-urban area. A multilevel mixed Poisson regression and a multinomial logistic regression were performed to determine which SES indicator, at individual- or at area-level, fits better with caries disease.
Result: At the individual-level of SES, mothers’ educational level was associated with their children’s caries severity (χ2(9)=147.51 p<0.01): as educational level rose, the proportion of children with high numbers of carious lesions fell. The two income indicators (area-level SES) were not associated. Mothers’ perception of child’s oral health was the only covariate that was always associated in each caries severity stratum and for all levels of mothers’ education. The frequency of child dental check-up, namely the presence of tooth pain, was statistically associated with the highest caries figures in two levels of mothers’ education: compulsory and secondary.
Conclusion: Individual-level indicator of SES, mother’s educational level, is a useful SES measure of caries in children in a low-income population; meanwhile area-level income indicators have not proved useful when economic disparities in the population are quite reduced
Supragingival plaque microbial analysis in reflection to caries experience. [Elektronisk resurs]
Get PDFABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Dental caries develops as a result of the metabolism of carbohydrates by cariogenic bacteria present in a complex biofilm. The present study aimed to examine if bacteria in pooled supragingival plaque samples quantified using a "checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization" based panel of caries-related bacteria, could reflect the caries experience in a manner similar to saliva samples analysed using a chair-side method in a previous investigation. METHODS: A total of 86 mothers and their children aged 4-6 years and 12-16 years old participated. Caries experience (DMFT/dmft; Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth for permanent and primary teeth) was registered clinically and radiographically. Caries was recorded at the D3 level (caries into dentine). The D/d component was divided into three categories. A pooled supragingival plaque sample per participant was obtained from posterior approximal sites. Analyses of 15 bacterial species were performed using the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridisation technique. RESULTS: No significant relationships were found between the bacterial scores and DMFT/dmft nor D/d groups. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike the saliva samples and the chair-side method, interproximal pooled plaque samples analysed using the "checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization technique" did not reveal any significant relations between the bacterial counts and the caries experience
Effect of Lactobacillus brevis CD2 lozenges in High Risk Schoolchildren
No full textObjectives: A double blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial was designed and carried out to validate the hypothesis that the use of lozenges containing Lactobacillus brevis CD2 (VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) may reduce plaque-pH, salivary mutans streptococci and bleeding on probing in a sample of high caries risk schoolchildren. The investigation had an experimental period of 8 weeks with two arms, Lb brevis CD2 lozenges and no-Lb brevis lozenges.
Methods: 191 children (aged 6-8 yy), presenting more than one carious lesion and salivary sm concentration ≥105 CFU/ml were examined at baseline (t0), after three weeks (t1), after six weeks of lozenges use (t2) and two weeks after the end of lozenges use (t3). Plaque-pH was assessed using the strip method following a sucrose challenge. Area under the curve (AUC5.7 and AUC6.2) was recorded. Salivary mutans streptococci (ms CFU/mL) was counted.
Results: Bleeding score at t0 was similar in the two groups, while at t2 and t3 a statistically significantly lower value was registered in LB-brevis CD2 group (p=0.02 and p=0.03, respectively). At t0, plaque-pH and salivary ms concentration values in both groups were similar (p =0.18 and p=0.48, respectively). Mean areas (AUC5.7 and AUC6.2) were statistically significantly lower in the test group at t1, t2 and t3. Subjects from the test group showed a statistically significant decrease (p=0.01) in salivary ms concentration (5.4 at t0, 4.9 at t2). AUC at t2 was statistically significant smaller in children from test group (p=0.01 AUC5.7 and p=0.03 AUC6.2) in relation to salivary ms concentration in comparison to children from control group, both for children with ms concentration ≥105 and with a concentration <105.
Conclusions: Six weeks use of lozenges containing Lactobacillus brevis CD2 showed beneficial effects on oral health, including a reduction of salivary mutans streptococci, plaque acidogenicity and bleeding on probing. (Trial Registration Number NCT01601145 08/21/2012
BMI and behavioral factors on caries in Mexican urban/rural populations
No full textObjectives: To evaluate the hypothesis of the impact of BMI and behavioral risk factors on dental caries experience in a cross-sectional study in two different Mexican populations, an urban and a rural.Methods: Adolescents (12 to 15-year-old) living in the urban city of Veracruz (UA) and in a rural town Tepancan (RA) in Mexico were enrolled. Caries status was recorded (ICDAS and DMFS) and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated (kg/m2) and classified (normal weight/overweight) according to WHO guidelines. Information about oral habits (toothbrushing/dental flossing/dental check-ups) and dietary intake patterns (consumption of sweets) were assessed via interview questionnaire. Data were analyzed (STATA) and a multinomial logistic regression model (MLRM) was run using ICDAS as a dependent variable.Results: A total of 464 subjects participated (UA=224; RA=240). Caries prevalence was higher in UA (42.4%) than in RA (33.7%) (p0) was statistically higher in overweight subjects (p<0.05). In UA, better oral habits were reported, the association between regular dental-check ups and lower caries experience was significant (p<0.01) and the consumption of sweets was higher (p=0.04). Using the MLRM, the zone (UA or RA) was significantly related to caries severity (p<0.01).Conclusions: Caries was associated to behavioral and geographic situations. Higher caries prevalence was observed in UA despite adequate oral hygiene habits and frequent dental check-ups while higher caries severity was recorded in RA linked to the lack of them. BMI was not different between areas yet overweight was a statistically significant risk factor associated to caries experience in the rural population. Homogeneity in rural areas may reduce misinterpretation on data analysis
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Fluoride content in breast milk after the use of fluoridated food supplement. A randomized clinical trial
No full textPURPOSE:
To evaluate if the intake of a fluoridated food supplement in breastfeeding mothers increases the fluoride concentration in breast milk.
METHODS:
A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study was designed. Two groups of women were formed: a fluoride group (n = 112), using a non-sucrose food supplement containing fluoride (1,500 μg/l for each dose) and a control group (n = 116), using a non-sucrose food supplement without fluoride content. The women were followed for 6 weeks. Samples of breast milk were collected and analyzed using an ion-specific electrode.
RESULTS:
85 women in the fluoride group and 83 in the control group concluded the trial. Fluoride concentrations in the two groups were statistically significantly different (515 μg/l in the fluoride and 476 μg/l in the control group P= 0.04) at the end of the experimental period. In the fluoride group, a statistically significant increment in fluoride concentration during the experimental period was also observed (from 468 ± 104 μg/l to 515 ± 105 μg/l). The use of a non-sucrose food supplement containing fluoride resulted in a significant increment in fluoride concentration in breast milk
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