Derek Richards

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Derek Richards is a specialist in dental public health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry and Specialist Advisor to the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) Development Team. A former editor of the Evidence-Based Dentistry Journal and chief blogger for the Dental Elf website until December 2023. Derek has been involved with a wide range of evidence-based initiatives both nationally and internationally since 1994. Derek retired from the NHS in 2019 remaining as a part-time senior lecturer at Dundee Dental School until the end of 2023.

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Treating severe dental caries improved children’s appetite and dental outcomes

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Worldwide dental caries remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases of childhood. Sadly, in many countries a significant proportion of this decay remains untreated leading to pain, sepsis and occasionally more severe complications.  Studies have shown associations between caries and poor growth, low weight gain, missed school and poorer performance.   The aim of this [read the full story…]

Submucosal dexamethasone reduced pain, swelling and trismus following surgical removal of third molars

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Surgical removal of lower third molars is one of the most commonly performed operations.  It is associated with inflammation, pain and limited mouth opening. The aim of this study was evaluate the effectiveness of submucosal injection of dexamethasone on swelling, pain, trismus, neurological complaints and patient satisfaction after third molar surgery. Adult Patients with Pell [read the full story…]

New Cochrane Protocols February 2013

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There are three new protocols on the February issue of the Cochrane Library The first protocol Carrasco-Labra A, Brignardello-Petersen R, Yanine N, Araya I, Rada G, Chadwick RG. Professionally-applied chemically-induced whitening of teeth in adults (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD010379. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010379.  aims to assess the effects of [read the full story…]

No randomised controlled trials to support or refute the extraction or non-extraction of teeth prior to radiotherapy of head and neck

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Globally about 3% of cancers are head and neck cancers.  Dental examination and completion of any necessary treatment is recommended prior to any radiotherapy required for patients with head and neck cancer. The aim of this Cochrane review was to assess whether the pre-radiation extraction of diseased or non-diseased molars compared to conservative treatment reduced [read the full story…]

New study suggests better outcomes with arginine toothpaste and mouthwash regimen for dentine hypersensitivity treatment.

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Earlier this month (Dental Elf 18th Feb) we looked at a systematic review of the use of arginine toothpastes to reduce dentine hypersensitivity.   A new study is now available which compares arginine toothpaste, potassium nitrate toothpaste against a standard fluoride toothpaste. Adult patients with at least two hypersensitive teeth were randomised to one of three [read the full story…]

Study suggests that pre-operative antibiotics have positive impact on operative morbidity in dental implant surgery

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Earlier this month  (Dental Elf 13th Feb 2013) we reported on a study looking at whether systemic antibiotics were necessary for the placement of dental implants.  That study suggested that antibiotics were not necessary for the placement of single implants.  Today we look at another study that looked at the influence of pre-operative antibiotics on [read the full story…]

Trial suggests that simplified technique for complete denture fabrication results in similar masticatory performance as traditional approaches

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While oral health has improved complete edentulism is remains an important problem. While it is increasingly common for treatment approaches to use implant-retained prosthesis conventional complete dentures are still in widespread use.   Traditional denture construction protocols involve several clinical and laboratory stages and simplified approaches have been suggested.  The aim of this trial was to [read the full story…]

Maxillary overdentures supported by four implants had similar success to those supported with six implants in short term.

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Stability problems and lack of retention are problems that edentulous patients often report.  The implant-supported denture is one approach to address these problems.  The aim of this trial was to compare the outcomes of maxillary overdentures supported by four or six dental implants in patients in the anterior part of the maxilla. Adult edentulous patients [read the full story…]

Review finds predictable outcomes with modern endodontic surgery techniques.

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Surgical endodontic treatment is used when traditional root canal treatment is impractical or unlikely achieve a satisfactory outcome. The aim of this review was to evaluate the outcomes of surgical endodontic treatment performed using modern approaches.  Modern approaches were considered to be use of magnification, root-end resection with minimal or no bevel, retrograde cavity preparation [read the full story…]

Little evidence available for the effectiveness of arginine-containing toothpastes in managing dentine hypersensitivity

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Last year we looked at a number of studies that looked at the effectiveness of various toothpastes in reducing dentine hypersensitivity (Dental Elf 30th October 2012).  The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of arginine-containing desensitising toothpastes in comparison to control agents in reducing dentine hypersensitivity (DH).   The aetiology of DH is [read the full story…]