May 27, 2020 | News

AL-HOFUF, Saudi Arabia: COVID-19 has not only impeded access to healthcare, but also caused fear and anxiety among healthcare workers. After conducting a study to understand how dentists in different parts of the world are coping with the fear of acquiring the disease and what strategies and modifications dental practices are implementing in order to combat SARS-CoV-2, researchers have highlighted the devastating psychological effects that the disease has had on dental professionals.

May 25, 2020 | News

Dr Waris Patel explains the importance of fit test/ seal test that is mandatory in many countries to check if the Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) are good enough to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals.

May 24, 2020 | News

This article by Dr Anuj Gandhi and Malvika Gandhi reviews the literature available on the use of Chlorine Dioxide in dental clinics and makes a hypothesis as to why ClO2 is safe even in higher concentrations when added to the dental unit waterlines in order to minimize the virus transmission through dental aerosols.

May 24, 2020 | News

The new CDC estimates for the severity, complications and deaths of COVID-19 bring down the numbers much lower making the overall scenario very optimistic. There is an ever-growing confusion between the two terms used for the death (fatality) rate. Read the addendum to understand the difference between the two numbers - CFR vs IFR. The original WHO numbers give an estimate of Case Fatality Rate (CFR). The new CDC numbers represent the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR).

May 19, 2020 | News

This guest editorial by Dr Manuela Buonanno summarizes the current research on characterizing the anti-microbial effectiveness of far-UVC light - mainly the work done on the topic to date by her team. She is an Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. which for almost 100 years, has been at the forefront of research into the uses and biological effects of ionizing radiation. Their internationally renowned scientists have provided insight, training and guidance to researchers, physicians and government officials for generations - all for the health and safety of the public. Dr Buonanno also answers a few relevant questions after the editorial.

May 18, 2020 | News

Researchers from Wu Lab, University of Delaware have built a database of post-translational modifications of proteins in their lab. Now, to make it useful for other researchers, one has to actually build a software that can extract data from this database and transform it into a suitable format to be included in the bioinformatics pipelines. Dr Sachin Gavali, who is currently pursuing his PhD in Bioinformatics in the USA has built that software too. Also, he has published it as open-source, which means the source code is available to the general public for use for any (including commercial) purpose, or modification from its original design. In this communication, Dr Sachin summarizes the research work.

May 15, 2020 | News

COVID-19 is having an unprecedented impact on the global economy, including that of the dental industry. Most dental clinics are shut and a few are offering only the emergency services. Dr Bhavdeep Ahuja will analyse "the rising costs in the oral health care services and how to reboot and restart the dental clinics" in his 5 part series. "The coveted formula for Mr India(n) dentists" - is the second article of the series.

May 13, 2020 | News

This is an evidence-based approach to summarize the virucidal effect of far UVC light on the viruses in general, and the novel coronavirus in particular - including those present in aerosols. All PubMed and DOI links embedded in the article. The PDF version of this article can be downloaded from Dr. Rajeev Chitguppi's Researchgate.

May 12, 2020 | News

Dentistry, labelled as the highest-risk profession in COVID-19 times because of the aerosol spread in the clinic, has forced dental professionals to look for tools that guarantee total elimination of the virus risk. Among the various technologies being considered, ultraviolet light (UV-C) disinfection has gained favour due to its efficacy against a broad range of microbial and viral agents found in a variety of environments.

May 11, 2020 | News

Mansoor Ali, a research analyst and veteran in the air treatment products industry, speaks about the role of relative humidity in controlling the spread of coronavirus. He is the founder of AMFAH, whose efforts have been recognised by the Marico Foundation for innovations in tackling the Coronavirus outbreak. Currently, his team is working closely with the Maharashtra health ministry team to set guidelines for various industries post lockdown period.

May 10, 2020 | News

COVID-19 is having an unprecedented impact on the global economy, including that of the dental industry. Most dental clinics are shut and a few are offering only the emergency services. Dr Bhavdeep Ahuja will analyse "the rising costs in the oral health care services and how to reboot and restart the dental clinics" in his 5 part series. "Changing Life Scenario in the Post COVID-19 Era" - is the first article of the series.

May 6, 2020 | News

Healthcare workers (HCWs) spend a lot of time up working in close proximity to their patients, which is a high-risk activity. Standard Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been recommended for the healthcare setting, but donning and doffing of the PPE has its own challenges.  Clinicians and their assistants need to be careful while removing the PPE so that they can minimize cross-contamination. Dr Ankit Desai (Periodontist, Surat) suggests a small modification in the PPE design that can significantly reduce this risk.

May 6, 2020 | News

LANSING, Mich., U.S.: Allowing dental professionals to test their patients for SARS-CoV-2 would decrease the high risk of transmission of the virus in dental clinics. Furthermore, dentists in some jurisdictions are now being prevented from performing elective treatment if their patients have not tested negative for the virus. Dental Tribune International (DTI) spoke with a Michigan State University (MSU) researcher who has developed a point-of-care testing kit that would be suited to dental settings.

May 5, 2020 | News

Sandeep Chakraborty (B-Tech, Electrical Engineering IIT Kharagpur, 1997), (Masters. Computer science, IIT Kharagpur, 2008) is a researcher focused on computational protein modelling, genome projects, and designing anti-microbial peptides. Dental Tribune South Asia had earlier published his interview where he had highlighted his observations, saying that we should focus on the role of anaerobic bacteria like Prevotella causing COVID complications - "Metagenomic data of COVID19 patients from across the globe shows a certain distinct pattern- anaerobic bacteria (Prevotella primarily) seem to predominate, i.e. there is a disruption of balance (homeostasis) with aerobic counterparts." Does the emerging evidence, which shows that COVID 19 could be primarily a vascular disease add credence to his bacterial hypothesis? Read the second part of the interview.

May 4, 2020 | News

Dental Tribune South Asia has launched COVIDEAS - an initiative to encourage innovative thought processes and bring innovative ideas to the attention of industry partners so that we as an industry can fight the pandemic together more effectively. Today we present the first COVIDEA - Pat's Poncho Technique proposed by Dr. Vivek Patni MDS (Ortho) Mumbai. It's a simple and practical way to prevent the virus spread via surface contamination.

May 2, 2020 | News

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted 'Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)' for Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Remdesivir is now the first authorized therapy drug for COVID-19. 

May 1, 2020 | News

With experts trying to find the possible reasons for the low COVID related death rate in India, a hypothesis by Sandeep Chakraborty has generated considerable interest because of the data based explanation it offers. Sandeep Chakraborty (B-Tech, Electrical Engineering IIT Kharagpur, 1997), (Masters. Computer science, IIT Kharagpur, 2008) is a researcher focused on computational protein modelling, genome projects, and designing anti-microbial peptides. His hypothesis based on his current research and data analysis on COVID-19 pathogenesis suggests that it's Prevotella - the anaerobic bacteria that might be responsible for the systemic complications seen in COVID-19. Another component of his hypothesis depends on data from previous independent studies showing that aerobic Mycobacterium Tuberculosis limits the growth of anaerobic species Prevotella. Sandeep's hypothesis says this might be one of the main reasons for India’s apparent low numbers of severe cases/ deaths due to COVID19 in India - his exclusive interview with Dental Tribune South Asia.

April 30, 2020 | News

Dental professionals are facing extremely challenging times because of the lockdown. While most practitioners are busy fighting the COVID crisis and preparing themselves for a safer dental practice post-lockdown, a team of dentists and medicos in Ahmedabad have committed themselves to a totally different and magnanimous initiative. This team of doctors, under the leadership of Dr Brijesh Patel, a dentist from Ahmedabad has embarked on a noble journey of helping the COVID frontline doctors and the underprivileged with food packs on a daily basis. This outstanding service has generated tremendous interest and garnered enormous respect from people all over.