In Japan’s super-aged society, many dental patients have underlying systemic diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and endocrine systems. Acute exacerbations of these underlying diseases are often observed before, during, or after dental treatment. Even young people with no systemic diseases may develop vasovagal reflex and hyperventilation syndrome as a result of the stress, anxiety, and pain associated with dental treatment. Dentists are required to appropriately treat these medical emergencies. Although in some instances the problem may be relieved by changing the patient’s position or monitoring vital signs, some cases require treatment with emergency drugs. However, there are no standard guidelines in Japan regarding medical emergencies in dentistry and emergency drugs. In contrast, the British Dental Association has created a poster that summarizes the symptoms of medical emergencies, initial treatments, and emergency drugs. The American Dental Association also publishes a response guide to medical emergencies in the dental office.

In this paper, referring to these two sources, the authors have reconsidered which emergency drugs are needed for dental clinics in Japan. Daily training in the correct use of drugs in cases of emergency is essential. The authors manage a study group called “AneStem” to respond to sudden changes in the condition of patients at the dental clinic, and we also run educational activities including simulation training for medical emergencies.

Coordinated co-stimulatory signals mediated by several immunoreceptors are important for the regulation of osteoclast differentiation. Dectin-1 is one of the pattern recognition receptors of β-glucan and is expressed on the surface of hematopoietic osteoclast precursor cells. In this review, we discuss the biological effects of β-glucans on bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Several β-glucans negatively regulate osteoclast differentiation by binding to dectin-1. Furthermore, we demonstrated the possibility of β-glucan as a candidate of osteoclast-targeting gene delivery system. Future studies concerning the relationship between the β-glucan structure and its biological effects on osteoclast are required for the development of novel pharmacological treatment for bone-related diseases.

This study aimed to compare the SARS-CoV-2-inactivation activity and virucidal mechanisms of ozonated water （OW） with those of slightly acidic electrolyzed water （SAEW） and 70% ethanol （EtOH）. SARS-CoV-2-inactivation activity was evaluated in a virus solution containing 1%, 20% or 40% fetal bovine serum （FBS） with OW, SAEW or EtOH at a virus-to-test solution ratio of 1：9, 1：19 or 1：99 for a reaction time of 20 s. EtOH showed the strongest virucidal activity, followed by SAEW and OW. Even though EtOH potently inactivated the virus despite the 40% FBS concentration, virus inactivation by OW and SAEW decreased in proportion to the increase in FBS concentration. Nevertheless, OW and SAEW showed potent virucidal activity with 40% FBS at a virus-to-test solution ratio of 1：99. Real-time PCR targeting the viral genome revealed that cycle threshold values in the OW and SAEW groups were significantly higher than those in the control group, suggesting that OW and SAEW disrupted the viral genome. Western blotting analysis targeting the recombinant viral spike protein S1 subunit showed a change in the specific band into a ladder upon treatment with OW and SAEW. OW and SAEW may cause conformational changes in the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.