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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Vital pulp therapy for permanent teeth

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The Journal of the American Dental Association has published an appraisal of a 2011 review by Aguilar & Linsuwanont  under the auspices of the American Dental Association Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry. The review looked at whether vital pulp therapy is successful in permanent teeth. The appraiser considered that search strategy was thorough although the included [read the full story…]

School- based trial shows benefit of sealants for caries prevention in high-risk population at 1 year

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Fissure sealants have been available since the 1960’s  and a 2008 Cochrane review by  Ahovuo-Saloranta et al  highlighted their effectiveness for preventing occlusal caries noting that their effectiveness is obvious in high caries risk children.   The aim of this new study by Muller-Bolla  et al, was to assess their effectiveness in a school-based dental sealant [read the full story…]

Weak evidence suggests small additional benefit from the use of local antimicrobials as adjunct to scaling and root planning for chronic periodontitis patients

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Scaling and root planning (SRP) is the main therapeutic approach to treating periodontitis. The adjunctive use of local antimicrobials has demonstrated some improvement in outcomes.  The aim of this review was to assess the effect on clinical outcomes of local antimicrobials as adjuncts to SRP, compared to SRP alone or plus placebo, in chronic periodontitis [read the full story…]

Trial shows improvements in dentine hypersensitivity with different toothpastes

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Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) arises from exposed dentine as a result of various stimuli. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of three commercially available toothpastes in the reduction of dentine hypersensitivity. 149 participants (72 males and 77 females; aged 20 to 60 years) were randomised to four groups:- Group 1-toothpaste containing 5% [read the full story…]

Review finds good success rates with sialendoscopy for treating salivary gland obstruction

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About 50% of benign salivary gland disease results from obstructive sialadenitis. The majority of cases are seen in the submandibular gland (80-90%) with 10-15% in the parotid and  < 1% in the sublingual gland.  The aim of this review was to summarize the current literature and determine the efficacy and safety of sialendoscopy in the [read the full story…]

Trail shows improved outcomes with metronidazole alone or with amoxicillin as adjuncts to non-surgical treatment of chronic periodontitis

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The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the adjunctive use of metronidazole (MTZ) or MTZ + amoxicillin (AMX) in the treatment of generalized chronic periodontitis (ChP). Participants with untreated generalized ChP were randomised to receive either scaling and root planning (SRP) only (n= 40); SRP with MTZ, 400 mg/3 times [read the full story…]

Tongue protector and topical aloe vera for treatment of burning mouth syndrome

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Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) presents as a subjective burning sensation of the tongue, lips or entire oral cavity, but does not manifest any objective lesions or laboratory test findings.  BMS is more common in middle-aged to elderly age groups. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a tongue protector in combination [read the full story…]

Minor salivary gland biopsy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome

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Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is one potential cause of dry mouth.  It is thought to affect 0.5-1% of the population and is more common in females (M/F ratio 1:9).  SS is an autoimmune disease characterised by chronic T- and B-cell infiltration of the salivary glands or lachrymal glands that results in gland dysfunction.   SS has a [read the full story…]

Little good evidence currently available to support the effectiveness of antidepressants in the treatment of orofacial pain

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Orofacial pain is a relatively common and is categorized into musculoskeletal; neuropathic; vascular; neurovascular; idiopathic; pain caused by local, distant, or systemic pathology; and psychogenic.  Diagnosis can be challenging when psychosocial factors are present and while antidepressants have been used as a treatment there remains some controversy.  The aim of this review was to assess [read the full story…]

Small trial suggests limited benefit for occlusal reduction in endodontic treatment

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Occlusal reduction is one possible technique to reduce postoperative pain in patients suffering from irreversible pulpitis and tenderness to percussion. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of this procedure Patients with irreversible pulpitis and mild tenderness to percussion without moderate-to-severe spontaneous pain underwent standardized root canal treatment (RoCT) performed by a [read the full story…]