2 News 07/20 caries a. Untreated in permanent teeth: Ranks 1st, affecting 35% OR 2.4 billion people b. Severe Periodontitis: 6th, affecting 10.8% OR 743 million people c. in deciduous teeth: 10th, affecting 9% of the global child population loss affects 2.3% OR 158 million people Lip and oral cavity cancers: Top 15 most common cancers in 2018 (IARC) d. Complete Untreated caries tooth e. 3. Oral diseases impose a economic burden families and individuals, substantial on societies. In 2015, oral diseases the US $ 357 accounted for billion in direct costs (treatment the US $ expenditures) and indirect costs 188 billion (productivity to absence from work and school) losses due in diseases 4. Personal consequences of chronic untreated oral diseases are severe and include unremitting pain, sepsis, reduced quality of life, lost school days, disruption to family life and decreased work productivity 5. Oral share common risk factors with other NCD’s which include tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption and free sugar consumption. Of particular concern is the effect of free sugar consumption on the prevalence of caries, obesity and diabetes. Integrated public health policies needed to tackle shared common risks 6. high-tech 21st-century dentistry continues to adopt a treatment dominated, interventionist, increasingly and specialised approach to dental care. Such an approach has failed to tackle the global burden of oral diseases. Radical reform of dental care systems urgently needed 7. A preventive approach focusing on population-wide impact needed as the current individualistic clinical paradigm has failed to achieve sustained improvements in population oral healthy. 8. Provider payment systems should put more emphasis on incentivising prevention instead of rewarding restorative and interventionist dental care 9. A range of highly developed corporate marketing strategies is used by the global sugar industry to increase their sales and profits. For e.g. By 2020, Coca- Cola set aside the US $ 12 billion on marketing across Africa PepsiCo set aside the US $ 12 billion for marketing its products in India WHO’s total budget of 2017 was the US $ 4.4 billion Tighter legislation required regulation by and governments Dr Divyesh B Mundra is an analytical healthcare management professional. 10. Pressing need to develop a clear and transparent conflict of interest policies and procedures to limit the influence of the sugar industry on dental research and oral health policy. Author: Dr Divyesh B Mundra in Masters Health Administration (MHA) from the most reputed Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Since then, he is working for one of India‘s most innovative healthcare organisations (private hospital chain) based out of Bangalore, Karnataka. He is an avid reader and tweets daily on the Indian healthcare system. In 2015, oral diseases accounted for the US $ 357 billion in direct costs (treatment expenditures) and the US $ 188 billion in indirect costs (productivity to absence from work and school) losses due Researchers develop saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 test and examine COVID-19 prevalence among dentists by Dental Tribune International federal Saskatchewan S A S K A T O O N , Saskatchewan, Canada: Researchers from the University of (USask) in Saskatoon are currently working on two large projects that have recently received substantial funding. The first project is aimed at developing a novel saliva-based test for SARS-CoV-2 detection, whereas the second one aims to examine COVID-19 incidence rates among Canadian dentists. led by the University of Regina (U of R) in Saskatchewan and McGill University in Montreal, respectively, have secured $1.2 million (€1.1 million) in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Approximately half of funding, over $550,000 (€445,000), will go to the researchers at the USask College of Dentistry and the USask Vaccine and Infectious Disease Orga n izat ion—Inter nat ional Vaccine Centre. The two projects, the The first part of the project will be led by Dr. Walter Siqueira, an associate dean at the USask College of Dentistry, in collaboration with Prof. Jun Yang of Western University in London, Ontario, and will focus on developing a new diagnostic test for the detection of SARS- CoV-2 peptides in saliva. “We expect that the accuracy of this test will be high because the peptide/proteins we are using is a marker for a specific SARS-CoV-2 antibody, whereas other tests often aren’t that specific” According to the researchers, the test has clear advantages over similar SARS-CoV-2 detection methods currently being used in research. For example, it is less invasive and more sensitive and yields results in less than 5 minutes. Additionally, the test will come at an affordable price and can conveniently be taken at home or in places that do not have health care facilities. to The prototype testing device will be similar in size to a cellphone and will include features similar those of pregnancy tests. Once the virus biomarkers combine with SARS- CoV-2 antibodies, an indicator will turn a certain color, thus indicating the presence of the virus in the saliva. “We expect that the accuracy of this test will be high because the peptide/proteins we are tests often aren’t using is a marker for a specific SARS-CoV-2 antibody, whereas other that specific,” Siqueira noted in a press release. “As well, other saliva-based tests are based on ribonucleic acid (RNA) which synthesizes proteins, but this test is based on proteins themselves, and since proteins last longer in the saliva than RNA, the virus is more detectable,” he added. Siqueira hopes that the test will also prove useful in detecting mild or asymptomatic COVID- 19 cases, since most of the tests currently in use are not able to do so. The saliva samples will be acquired from the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Royal University Hospital, and the test should become available to the public by March 2021. A different part of the study is being led by a researcher from U of R, Dr. Mohan Babu, who is responsible for developing antiviral peptides that will block SARS-CoV-2 from entering or replicating human cells. Examining COVID-19 incidence rates among Canadian dentists In the second project, the researchers will collect saliva samples from dentists in Canada to determine the incidence rate of Dr. Walter Siqueira from the University of Saskatchewan College of Dentistry is the lead researcher in a study aimed at developing a test that identifies SARS-CoV-2 peptides in saliva. (Image: University of Saskatchewan) COVID-19 among dentists upon their return to the workplace. protect both the patients and the dentists.” “The close contact between dentists and patients, along with the use of aerosol-generating procedures, makes dental offices a potentially high-risk environment for the COVID- 19 transmission,” said Siqueira. “Now that dental offices are beginning they are infection control, treatment protocols and other procedures, but there is minimal scientific evidence to these measures. More information is needed to ensure we have evidence-based infection control guidelines that implementing support reopen, to that four weeks The researchers will collect saliva samples from 220 dentists every for one year. They will also distribute questionnaires contain COVID-19-related questions. The data will enable the team to accurately assess the potential risk of infection in dental offices, to determine the correct personal protective equipment that should be used in dental settings, and to identify appropriate infection control measures in order to ensure the safety of patients and staff.