1. Simpson TC, Clarkson JE, Worthington HV, MacDonald L, Weldon JC, Needleman I, Iheozor-Ejiofor Z, Wild SH, Qureshi A, Walker A, Patel VA, Boyers D, Twigg J. Treatment of periodontitis for glycaemic control in people with diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2023; 4. Art. No.: CD004714. [available on: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35420698/ ]

This systematic review was published in the tier – 1 journal with a 9.9 impact factor. The results of this systematic review informed the clinical guidelines of National Excellence (NICE) United Kingdom for management and prevention of diabetes mellitus to be updated. A blog was written by Prof. Qureshi and the co-author Joshua Twigg for the general public suffering from type-2 diabetes mellitus to convince them to get their gums cleaned for controlling and preventing from hyperglycemia. So far, this manuscript has been cited for more than 200 times.

2. Malik A, Malik S, Qureshi A, Rasheed A. Comparative effectiveness of chewing stick and toothbrush: A randomized clinical trial. North American Journal of Medical Sciences 2014; 6:333-7 [available on: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4114011/ ]

This manuscript was as a result of an investigation done by our MDS student Dr. Aeeza Malik. Although the journal’s impact factor is not available but so far this manuscript has reached a citation of more than 100 times. Perhaps the reason being that there is very little research done globally on miswak the wooden twig that is used to brush and clean teeth. In Islam it’s a ritual to use miswak before every prayer but science has proved the importance of cleaning teeth at least twice a day. This is a way sustainability in overall good health and well-being can be achieved.

3. Qureshi A, Bokhari SAH, Haque Z, Baloch AA, Zaheer S. Clinical efficacy of scaling and root planing with and without metronidazole on glycemic control: three arm randomized controlled trial, BMC Oral Health 2021; 21(253), 1-9 [available on: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12903-021-01620-1 ]

This was the 2^nd manuscript by our PhD Researcher on connection between diabetes and poor periodontal health. This was a clinical trial with three arms – unique study design targeting participants from developing country who cannot afford diabetes care. The research was fully funded by the National Research Project for Universities by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The results were a breakthrough in science where it was largely appreciated that simple scaling at every 6- months would help reduce hyperglycemia by almost 1% reduction in HbA1c levels in patients suffering from uncontrolled diabetes. So far, this research has been cited for more than 25 times and continue to be cited.

4. Qureshi A, Haque Z, Qureshi H, Farooqui WA. Effects of Metronidazole as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy on insulin resistance in type 2 diabetics. Antibiotics-Basel 2021; 10: 1400 [available on: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/11/1400 ]

Another breakthrough publication as a result of PhD thesis published in a journal with an impact factor of 4.6. the effect of improvement in oral health was not only seen as an improvement in HbA1c levels but also in the HOMA-IR (insulin resistance levels). These results were collectively reported in the Cochrane Systematic Review and also led to the updated NICE clinical practice guidelines.

5. Qureshi A, Bukhari SAH, Pirvani M, Dawani N. Understanding and Practice of Evidence Based Search Strategy among Postgraduate Dental Students: A Preliminary Study. Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice 2015; 15(2): 44-49 [available on: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1532338214002309 ]

Published in a journal with an impact of 4.8, so far with a citation of 26 the manuscript assessed the importance of clinical and evidence-based practice used in dentistry. This led to the introduction of the PICO practice in dental education starting from the undergraduate level where answerable questions could be made by the students to solve the clinical problems they faced in routine practice. This helped introduce integrated clinical practice in dentistry in public sector where patients cannot afford quality healthcare. But this practice improved the quality of healthcare in dental practice.

6. Nisar SS, Irfan F, Hammad H, Abdulla AM, Kamran MA, Barakat A, Niazi F, Baig EA, Qureshi A. Disinfection of caries-affected dentin using potassium titanyl phosphate laser, Riboflavin and Ozonated water on shear bond strength of deciduous teeth. Photo diagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy 2022; 29: 103044 [available on: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1572100022003301 ]

This article was published by the students of Dow University of Health Sciences in collaboration with the King Khalid University of Saudi Arabia. Due to limitations in scientific research facilities and tools in the university the collaboration sought helped the students investigate the idea that disinfecting the dentine layer with different techniques would increase the strength of the bonding material used in the restoration of milk (deciduous) teeth. Although this study was material – based but the results were very much applicable in the children of local community. The Department of Community Dentistry facilitated this collaboration across borders to achieve the SDG-3 through SDG-17 (global partnerships) and analyzed the student data for publication in a high impact factor journal (IF= 4.9) that is still being cited (citations = 41).

7. Anzar W, Qureshi A, Afaq A, Kattan HF, Almutairi B, Alzahrani KM, Naseem M, Vohra F, Abduljabbar T. Association of Dental Caries and Anthropometric Measures among Primary School Children. Children 2021; 8 (3), 223 [available on: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/3/223 ]

This was a master thesis article of our student Dr. Wajiha Anzar who investigated the child growth, stunting and muscle wasting as a result of dental decay during childhood. The impact factor of this journal was 2.1 at the time of publication. These results helped the team continue looking for sustainable solutions to prevent dental decay in children and teaching mothers about oral healthcare during pregnancy.

8. Potgieter N, Bridge G, Elfrink M, Folayan MO, Gao SS, Groisman S, Jawdekar A, Kemoli AM, Lim D, Ly P, Mani SA, Masumo R, Monteiro J, Muasya MK, Qureshi A, Tinanoff N. A pilot study on the global practice of informed consent in paediatric dentistry. Frontiers in Oral Health 2024; 5: 1298277 [available on: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oral-health/articles/10.3389/froh.2024.1298277/full ]

The article viewed and downloaded for more than 3000 and 1000 time respectively has an impact of 3.1. This article was perhaps the first one with global collaboration where authors from many countries across the globe collected on a single platform and published about the importance of the global practices of informed consent in dentistry for children.

9. Sukkurwalla A, Zaidi SJA, Taqi M, Waqar Z, Qureshi A. Exploring medical educators’ perspectives on teaching effectiveness and student learning. BMC Med Educ2024; 24: 1433 [available on: https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-024-06465-0]

This article highlights the need for curriculum reforms, adoption of continuous formative assessment and faculty development programs to enhance teaching effectiveness in professional medical and dental education and encourages the student-centered learning approach.

10. Tariq K, Shakeel S, Qureshi A, Unar J, Qamar A, Khan A. Predicting oral hygiene practices through health behavior, perceived stress and self-efficacy in undergraduate dental students of Pakistan: a national survey. BMC Oral Health 2024; 24(1): 1031 [available on: https://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12903-024-04805-6]

A national level survey was conducted among the students of dental colleges and it was found that there are certain important factors that not only have direct positive impact on perceived stress and self-efficacy but also play role in improving oral health and hygiene practices. This study contributed in understanding the behavioral determinants and emphasized the need for supportive measures to foster better health behaviors.