Title
Author
DOI
Article Type
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
1Unit of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Section of Dentistry, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
2Unit of Dental Hygiene, Section of Dentistry, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
*Corresponding Author(s):andrea.scribante@unipv.it (Andrea Scribante)
| History | Submitted: 18 May 2024 | Accepted: 23 May 2024 | Published: 03 September 2024 |
| Copyright: | ©2024 The Author(s). Published by MRE Press. |

Cite this article
Andrea Scribante, Maurizio Pascadopoli. Current reviews in pediatric dentistry. Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry. 2024; 48(5): 1-3. doi: 10.22514/jocpd.2024.098
Oral diseases in children represent one of the most relevant public health issues [1]. Despite the increasing prevention performed in recent years, a relevant severity results if preventive and treatment measures are not taken at the correct time [2]. Oral health in early life is a good predictor of oral health status in adolescence, adulthood and the elderly [3, 4]. Accordingly, pediatric dentists are capable of identifying the presence of unhealthy habits or conditions in children from the earliest years of life and inform parents and family members of the resulting risks [5, 6]. In case preventive measures are not properly taken, the result can consist of the arise of specific problems such as dental caries, erosive tooth wear (ETW), hypomineralization and malocclusion, which have a negative impact in adult life [7]. Nowadays pediatric dentistry offers many possibilities to prevent such oral health problems. When these fail, minimally invasive approaches and innovative restorative materials are now available to dentists to treat such conditions [8].
Considering the increase of evidence of this field and the recent innovations introduced, literature reviews have a pivotal role for clinicians to guide their clinical practice. From simple narrative reviews to meta-analyses, reviews give a comprehensive idea of a single topic, thus allowing both clinicians and scientists to answer their questions and address their work. In 2023, the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry (JOCPD) has collected many literature reviews dealing with different aspects of pediatric dentistry. One of the widest fields of research is represented by dental caries, considering the high incidence of this pathology especially in pediatric subjects [1]. A scoping review was focused on the association between early childhood caries and the nutritional status (contribution 1). Based on the association of dental caries with other medical issues, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential role exerted by dental caries on the development of asthma (contribution 2).
In recent years, a trend topic in pediatric dentistry is molar incisor hypomineralization, a characteristic condition affecting the enamel mineralization of at least incisors and molars; accordingly, a scoping review collected in the present Special Issue was focused on this topic (contribution 3).
Considering the preventive and therapeutic strategies towards dental caries, other reviews collected have respectively explored the economic evaluation of fluoride varnishes and pit and fissure sealants in preventing dental caries (contribution 4), the effects of probiotics on preventing caries in preschool children (contribution 5), the clinical applications for the management of dental caries through procedures involving minimal intervention in pediatric patients (contribution 6), and the use of formocresol (contribution 7).
Because of the aesthetic influence of enamel defects, a systematic review evaluated microabrasion in the management of enamel discolorations in paediatric dentistry (contribution 8).
Another corpus of literature reviews aimed at considering patients’ psychological and satisfaction outcomes related to dental treatment. In particular, a group of research addressed the effect of orthodontic pain on dental anxiety (contribution 9), whereas another one explored the patient satisfaction towards two different dental isolation systems (contribution 10).
Considering the relationship of pediatric dentistry with other fields like orthodontics and maxillofacial characteristics, the timing of early correction of mandibular hypoplasia in skeletal Class II malocclusion has been reviewed (contribution 11), as well as the influence of rapid maxillary expansion and mandibular advancement for treating obstructive sleep apnea (contribution 12), and the evidence on the 2 × 4 appliance in the mixed dentition stage (contribution 13). In addition to that, the congenital cranio-facial abnormalities in paediatric population (contribution 14), the bite force of children and adolescents (contribution 15), and both temporomandibular disorders and orofacial neuropathic pain in children and adolescents (contribution 16) have been reviewed.
Finally, evaluating periodontal pathologies in pediatric patients, the relation between this latter and juvenile idiopathic arthritis has been the object of a systematic review and meta-analysis (contribution 17).
Considering previous published literature on pediatric dentistry, the number of papers appears to be low if compared to other fields [9]. The area of greatest pediatric interest in the dental field appears to be dental caries [10]. It is desirable that publications on pediatric dentistry topics increase in number and interest also in the pediatric medical literature, allowing a closer bidirectionality between these the two related fields [1]. Accordingly, the JOCPD will welcome future studies and literature reviews aimed at improving the clinical knowledge and research on pediatric dentistry, including remineralizing agents [11, 12], probiotics [13, 14], characteristics of dental materials [15], innovative instruments [16, 17, 18, 19, 20], new techniques and treatments combined with other dental disciplines such as orthodontics [21], restorative dentistry [22], prosthodontics [23, 24], periodontology [25] and dental hygiene [26].
The data are contained within this article.
AS—performed conceptualization, data extraction and manuscript review. MP—wrote the draft text. Authors equally contributed to the present research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Not applicable.
Editors would like to thank the Authors for their contributions.
This research received no external funding.
The authors declare no conflict of interest. Andrea Scribante is serving as the Editor in Chief of this journal, and Maurizio Pascadopoli is serving as the Editorial Board member of this journal.
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