The aim of all journals is to publish high-quality evidence-based research. The research mainly focuses on scientific impact on fields and professions. Thus, a journal is an indicator of scientific advancement in the society, in academia, and in professionals, and should be able to connect with the common man. As journals continue to publish, they need to demonstrate greater alignment with being socially accountable .

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Introduction: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has evoked an exigent need to explicate the association between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and oral mucosal lesions. The present systematic review aims to elucidate the recent literature on oral manifestations related to COVID-19 so as to help the dental professionals for better screening and early diagnosis of the disease. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search on PubMed, Science direct, Scopus, and Embase databases was carried out from December 2019 to March 2021 using keywords “Coronavirus,” “COVID-19,” “SARSCoV-2,” “Oral mucosal lesions,” and “Oral manifestation.” Additional information was obtained from Cochrane, World Health Organization, and Medscape. The full text articles of case reports and cross-sectional studies were analyzed and included. The review included 25 articles. Results: Four most common oral manifestations were found: gustatory and olfactory dysfunction, xerostomia, oral mucosal lesions, and salivary gland diseases. Vasculitis, opportunistic infections, drug eruption secondary to administration of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), stress, immunosuppression, and hyperinflammatory immune response secondary to COVID-19 might be some of the relevant predisposing factors responsible for the onset of oral manifestations in patients with COVID-19. Conclusion: The early detection of oral symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection could help the clinicians to perform a better screening, and in recognizing early manifestations of the disease. However, the oral manifestations might be misdiagnosed due to subsequent challenge of undergoing oral examinations, hence diverse studies should be undertaken by the researchers to gain a better insight into the topic.

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Introduction: Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are the main source of orofacial pain of nondental origin. Density changes in mandibular condyles of patients with TMD have not been well documented. The aim of this study was to compare condylar head bone density values in patient with and without TMD in cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) images. Materials and Methods: CBCT images of 70 patients with TMD and 70 age- and sex-controlled individuals were studied. Density of the cancellous bone in the left and right condylar heads was measured on a CBCT slice with the widest mediolateral dimension. Moreover, absence of at least one maxillary or mandibular posterior tooth (except for third molars) was recorded. Interclass correlation, t test, and Chi-squared test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Bone density in the condylar head significantly increased in patients with TMD compared with the non-TMD group (P < 0.001). The difference between males and females in each group was not significant (P = 0.182). Condylar head bone density in patients with TMD with posterior missing teeth was significantly less than individuals without missing teeth (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Increased density of condylar head must be regarded as a potential diagnostic tool for TMD when interpreting CBCT images of the joints.

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Introduction: The association of human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical and oropharyngeal cancer is well established. There is a growing evidence that HPV could possibly contribute to oral cancer along with alcohol and tobacco use. The aim of this study was to evaluate and quantify HPV-16 in the whole mouth fluid of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), cervical cancer, and normal controls. Materials and Methods: The whole mouth fluid of 20 patients with OSCC (Group I), 10 with cervical cancer (Group II), and 10 normal individuals (Group III) was collected by the spit technique. The DNA was extracted and quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 (IBM Corp. Released 2012, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) software and analysis of variance test was used. Results: The mean age of Group I patients was 50.9 ± 13.5 years, Group II was 51.6 ± 8.07 years, and Group III was 46 ± 8.5 years. In Group I, 15 were males and 5 were females. In Group III, 5 were males and 5 were females. Eight patients belonging to Group I, four of Group II, and seven of Group III had HPV-16 in their whole mouth fluid. Conclusion: HPV-16 was identified in the whole mouth fluid of OSCC, patients with cervical cancer, and even in normal controls. However, the mean viral loads were highest in patients with cervical cancer followed by patients with OSCC and normal controls.

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Introduction: Photo-anthropometry is a method of facial image comparison that consists of taking measurements on images. The objective of this study was to verify if facial measurements obtained from a two-dimensional (2D) image can be applied for the purpose of human identification when compared with measurements obtained from a three-dimensional (3D) image. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional research, a convenience sample was formed by 3D and 2D images of 12 participants. In these images, 35 linear measurements were taken between landmarks. The 2D images were obtained in different angles and norms (left and right sides, and front sides), and the measures were categorized into vertical, lateral, and lip regions. The data were organized in Excel^® spreadsheets (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Washington, USA) and submitted to descriptive statistics. Results: The vertical measurements in lateral norms were more divergent than the measurements of 3D images, whereas the measurements of the lip region showed less differences in all norms. In the lateral norms, vertical measures such as nasion–pogonion were underestimated by 14.35 mm, whereas this same measure was overestimated by 7.20 mm in the frontal norm. In the lip region, the most underestimated measures were crista philtri (left)–cheilion (left) at 5.95 mm and crista philtri (right)–cheilion (right) at 5.45 mm, and the most overestimated was cheilion (right)–cheilion (left) at 4.38 mm, all in the frontal norm. Conclusion: The facial measurements obtained in 2D images can be underestimated or overestimated depending on the angle and norm of each image.

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Introduction: The ingredients from the dental restoratives are known to leach and elicit a host response. The prerequisite to deem a material biocompatible requires its toxicologic evaluation. The study was performed to analyze the probable toxicity resulting from silorane-based composite (SBC) with methacrylate-based composite (MBC). Materials and Methods: The in vitro cytotoxicity test, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, evaluated the cell viability and proliferation rate of dental pulp cells (DPCs). The extirpated pulp was cultured in α-MEM-containing supplements and incubated at 37°C. DPCs were subjected to varying doses of SBC or MBC at different time intervals after attaining confluence and monitored for proliferation and viability via MTT assay. An independent Student t test was performed to compare the effect of composites on the DPC. The cytotoxicity levels were compared using one-way analysis of variance and posthoc Tukey multiple comparison test at 5% level of significance and P-value of <0.05. Results: DPC exposed to MBC showed higher viability than SBC. The MTT assay reported the number of viable cells as (>90%) in the first 24 hours. The count significantly reduced by the end of 48 hours (minimum 65% in 25 μg/ml) at all concentrations (P < 0.05). SBC had lower survival than MBC in all concentrations and periods. Except at 5 μg/ml concentration at 48 hours in SBC, no statistically significant values were reported. Conclusion: DPCs are prone to the cytotoxicity caused by dental composite. In contrast to MBC, the cytotoxicity of SBC declines overtime.

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Introduction: Nature is a valuable source of active ingredients that needs to be explored, especially its utilization in the medical field. Owing to the limited availability of antifungal drugs and also considering their side effects, there is always a constant need for a safe and competent alternative. Wrightia tinctoria, a medicinal tree, has been reported to possess potent antifungal activity against commercially available candida strains [American type culture collection (ATCC) and microbial type culture collection (MTCC)]. This could be beneficial clinically only if its antifungal activity could be proved against candida species isolated from clinical samples as the commercially available candida strains might have lost its pathophysiological characteristics on repeated subcultures. Hence, with this background, we performed this study to determine the antifungal efficacy of the extracts obtained from the leaves of W. tinctoria against the candida species isolated from the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to determine the antifungal efficacy of W. tinctoria on candida species isolated from the oral cavity. Materials and Methods: To determine the antifungal activity, acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform extracts of leaves of W. tinctoria were used. The study population consisted of five healthy volunteers above 18 years of age without any harmful habits and five patients at increased risk of candida infection. Saliva samples were collected by oral rinse technique using phosphate buffered saline. Fluconazole was used as a positive control and the antifungal efficacy was determined using disk diffusion method. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the significant difference between the extracts. Results: The mean zone of inhibition of acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform extracts of leaves of W. tinctoria was 10.8667, 11.0000, 10.1333 mm, respectively. Conclusion: Acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform extracts of W. tinctoria possess antifungal activity against candida species isolated from oral cavity.

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Introduction: Tobacco is the leading causative factor for both oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer. Tobacco use is higher among lower income population. Low-income population of India are majorly employed as industrial workers. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of oral lesions associated with tobacco related habits among industrial workers. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological investigation was conducted among 1000 industrial workers using simple random sampling technique. Information on patient demographics, tobacco related (smoke and smokeless) and other deleterious habits, and clinical examination details were recorded in a structured format. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0. Results were tabulated using frequency distribution and mean with a standard deviation. Multiple logistical regression was used to analyze oral lesions by different variables. Results: Among the 1000 industrial workers screened, smoking habit was observed in 13.20%, while 86.8% were using smokeless tobacco. The prevalence of tobacco related oral lesions among individuals with smoke/smokeless tobacco habit was 13.8%. The study documented tobacco related oral lesions such as leukoplakia (6.5%), oral submucous fibrosis (2%), smoker’s palate (2.7%), tobacco related pigmentation (1.9%), erythroplakia (0.3%), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (0.2%). Conclusion: The study documented potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer among users with tobacco related habits. The results also revealed that higher prevalence of potentially malignant disorders over oral cancer. Thus, preventive programs for early detection of oral precancer and oral cancer such as tobacco cessation, tobacco counselling programs are emphasized for industrial workers.

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Introduction: Oral reactive lesions are relatively common. Collagen is the basic component of such overgrowths that could be fibrous or inflammatory. Hence, understanding the type, nature, and distribution of collagen fibers can aid in our knowledge and better management of these lesions. Materials and Methods: Ten paraffin blocks of each of the following lesions − giant-cell granuloma (L1), inflammatory fibrous hyperplasia (L2), pyogenic granuloma (L3), fibroma (L4), and peripheral ossifying fibroma (L5) − were retrieved from the archives. They were analyzed for their collagen birefringence property under polarized microscopy after picrosirius red stain. The demographic details of all the cases were recorded and evaluated. Results: In our study, giant-cell granulomas were commonly observed between third and seventh decades of life, inflammatory fibrous hyperplasias between second and fifth decades of life, yogenic granulomas in sixth decade, fibromas in fifth and sixth decades, and peripheral ossifying fibromas in second and fourth decade of life. All the lesions were predominant in females and commonly observed on gingiva. L5 lesions showed more areas of green birefringence followed by L1, L2, and L3 groups of lesions showed more of red birefringence than other lesions. Mixed birefringence of orange-red and green-yellow was almost same in all the lesions. All these findings were significant statistically. Conclusion: A plausible conclusion that the lesions with mature red fibers have better prognosis than the lesions with immature green fibers, in reactive oral lesions could be drawn.

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Introduction: Saliva is a reservoir for biologic indicators and has a diverse microflora, which is critical particularly for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. Notwithstanding, saliva also could be applied as a noninvasive method to COVID-19 diagnosis and disease evolution monitoring. The objective of this systematic review is to summarize the main findings regarding to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection repercussion in saliva and/or salivary glands, addressing the following questions: What has been published regarding to the presence and implications of COVID-19 in saliva or salivary glands? and What are the researchers’ main results and conclusions?. Materials and Methods: A total of 31 published articles were included (27 research articles and 4 case reports). PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched till August 2020. The terms COVID-19, novel coronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2 were combined with the keywords salivary gland, saliva, sialadenitis, parotid gland, sublingual gland submandibular gland, salivary gland disease, and minor salivary gland using the Boolean operator “AND.” Results: In this study, researchers’ main results and conclusions were exposed in tables. The main subjects of the articles were detection and viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, the influence of mouthwashes in SARS-CoV-2, and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols. Conclusion: Although deep throat saliva may be used as a diagnostic tool to SAR-CoV-2 diagnosis, researchers found that the viral load in saliva is lower than in respiratory secretions.

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Introduction: Monozygotic (MZ) twins share the same DNA, placenta, amniotic fluid, and physical features. Genetic factors play a prominent role compared to environmental factors in one’s physical appearance, including dental morphology. Here we studied variation in MZ twin’s tooth morphometry and palatal rugae pattern. Materials and methods: Variation between twins can be a valuable tool in forensics to identify individuals. Ten pairs of MZ twins were selected for this research. The maximum coronal mesiodistal and buccopalatal dimension of the maxillary teeth, excluding the second and third molars, were measured in triplicate using calipers. Palatal rugae patterns of the samples were cast, analyzed, and recorded based on shape and unification. Results: Our results showed a significant tooth dimension correlation between MZ twins. Maxillary central incisors had the least genetic variability, but the Carabelli trait, skeletal pattern, occlusion, and occlusal features all exhibited a greater correlation in MZ twins. Our findings provide compelling evidence for mirroring of dental features and palatal rugae patterns in MZ twins. This study is the first of its kind reported in Malaysia. Conclusion: Marked similarities in tooth morphometry and other dental physical features were observed between twins, which can be a useful tool in forensics for the identification of individuals.

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Introduction: Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) involve abnormalities of either the disc or associated muscular structure. Evidence continues to accumulate regarding the untreated diseases of stomatognathic system, in particular, malocclusion and TMDs, which eventually carry a risk of development of postural disorders. The present study was undertaken to assess the correlation between TMDs and altered cervical range of motion and to review its association with the myogenous causes of TMD. Materials and Methods: A total of 80 patients were recruited and were divided into two groups; those diagnosed with TMDs were classified as cases and those who did not suffer from TMDs and/or cervical spine anomalies were classified as controls. Patients reporting with a positive history of painful joints and muscles were examined and were later referred to the department of physiotherapy, where the cervical range of motion was assessed using Baseline® bubble inclinometer. Cervical range of motion in healthy patients was compared with those affected with TMDs using posthoc Tukey test. Results: There was a significant difference in the values for range of motion and was found to be considerably restricted among the TMD subjects. Disability for the range of motion was statistically significant with a P-value of <0.001 for tests of active flexion, passive flexion, left active flexion, and left passive flexion in patients with myogenous TMDs. Conclusion: TMDs were found to be a significant factor in the occurrence of an impaired cervical range of motion.

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