KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF USE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTS AMONG DENTAL PRACTITONERS BEFORE AND DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Santhosh Rahul K, Joy Aleesha, Mathew Josey, George Liza MDS, Paul Sinju, Yacob Jeason Paul Department of Dept. of Conservative dentistry & Endodontics, Annoor dental college & hospital, Muvattupuzha Running title – PPE knowledge before and after Covid 19 pandemic Received: 01-03-2023 Revised: 06-03-2023 Accepted: 08-03-2023 Address for correspondence: Dr. Aleesha Joy, Assistant professor, Dept. of Conservative dentistry & Endodontics, Annoor dental college & hospital, Muvattupuzha, Kerala E-mail: aleeshajoy.1991@gmail.com This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial ShareAlike 4.0 license, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms How to cite this article: Santhosh R K, Joy A, Mathew J, George L, Paul S, Yacob J P. Knowledge and awareness of use of personal protective equipments among dental practitoners before and during covid-19 pandemic J Oral Biomed Sci 2023; 2: Abstract Introduction: The pandemic made the dentist to adjust to the new changes to deal with COVID-19 outbreak. With increasing awareness regarding emerging viral diseases dental practitioners have made positive changes regrading personal protection. Aim: To evaluate knowledge and awareness on use of personal protection equipment’s among dental practitioners before and during covid-19 pandemic. Methodology: Across-sectional study was conducted using an online survey. Dental practitioners from Kerala were selected for the survey. Questionnaire included questions about the difference they experienced by using personal protection equipment’s which they did not follow before the pandemic and are they finding it important and will they be continuing the practice after the pandemic. And the data obtained was analyzed statistically. Results: The result shows there is a massive increase in use of N95 mask during the pandemic 146 (59.6%) than before the pandemic where it was 12 (4.9%), as N95 masks were mandatory during the pandemic. Also, there is increases in usage of double gloves during the pandemic from 5 (2.0%) to 51 (20.8%). The usage of personal protective equipment before and during COVID-19 shows there is massive increases in the usage of PPE kit among the practitioners 146 (59.6%) from 11 (4.5%) before COVID. Conclusion: It was found that the majority of dental practitioners had adequate knowledge regarding the use of personal protective equipment and hygiene practices. Although the percentage of respondents with inadequate knowledge and practice requires attention and adequate measures should be taken to improve their awareness on use of PPE and hygiene practices. Keywords: Personal protection equipment, Covid-19, N-95 masks

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Background: Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people may experience four or more weeks after initial infection with COVID-19 which has shown to affect the quality of life of affected individuals Methodology: A cross- sectional study was conducted between 1st September 2021, and 28th February 2022 among 500 patients who visited Family Health Centre, Mazhuvannur, Kerala for various treatments who were already diagnosed with acute covid infection preceding 6 weeks. Results: Out of the 500 participants included in the study, 296 reported at least one post- COVID symptom. The mean age was 47.46 ± 17.20 (18–90) in which 42.57% were male and 57.43% were female. Among the 89.15 % vaccinated individuals, 55.89% availed vaccination prior to infection and 44.11 % post infection.. Most prevalent post–COVID symptoms reported were fatigue (31%), dizziness on standing (29.6%), symptoms that get worse after physical activity (25%), cough (21.4%), headache (13.4%). Out of 296 individuals, 174 patients (69.7 %) underwent treatment for post- COVID symptoms and 121 (59.1%) reported improvement on receiving treatment. Conclusion: Post COVID syndrome affects the quality of life of individuals. In the present study, it is concluded that age, habits (smoking, tobacco chewing, alcoholism) and co-morbid diseases are critical risk factor for the development of post-COVID syndrome and it also influences the post-COVID treatment outcome. Keywords - Post COVID syndrome, COVID 19

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to explore the prognostic significance of immunohistochemical markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases were thoroughly searched using various combinations of keywords, and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed for analysis. Results: Database search yielded a total of 45 articles, out of which 13 articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 946 oral squamous cell carcinoma samples were evaluated for various immunohistochemical markers. The most commonly studied immunohistochemical marker of EMT was E-Cadherin followed by Beta-catenin, CD44, N-Cadherin, EMA, vimentin, SMA, ALDH1, cyclin D1, APC, Collagen IV and MMP 9.  A panel of transcription factors such as TWIST1, SNAI1/2, ZEB1, and ZEB2 and other genes intimately related to EMT (CDH1 and LAMC2) at the invasive tumor front of OSCC tissues were also studied. Conclusion:  The use of biomarkers like E-cadherin, EMA, and SMA might be a valuable tool for predicting patient outcomes and therapy. OSCC tissues had high levels of EMT phenotype as compared with the normal oral mucosa. This phenotype was characterized by reduced E-cadherin and β-catenin expression and overexpression of N-cadherin. CD44 immunoexpression was a significant predictor of lymph node metastasis, while ALDH1 high immunostaining was associated with angiolymphatic invasion. Co-expression of TWIST1 and ZEB2 was significantly prevalent in OSCC patients with poorer overall survival, especially in patients with no lymph node metastasis. The Snail family of zinc-finger transcription factors especially SNAI1/2 was significantly overexpressed in OSCC. The prognostic value of these biomarkers is proven and can be employed for evolving new therapeutic modalities. Keywords:  immunohistochemistry, oral squamous cell carcinoma, epithelial-mesenchymal transition