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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Positive association between implant primary stability and bone mineral density

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Primary stability plays an important role in successful osseointegration of dental implants. The aim of this review was to investigate the influence of  bone mineral density on the primary stability of dental implants. The authors performed searches of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE-PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, and LILACS  and SIGLE databases without language restriction. [read the full story…]

Optimal oral dose of midazolam for the anxious child requiring dental treatment is 0.75 mg/kg

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Behavioural management is an essential approach for the dental treatment of the anxious child.  It is sometimes  necessary to supplement this with sedation.  The main aim of this study was to compare the effect of three doses of oral midazolam (0.5, 0.75, and 1 mg ⁄ kg) on the sedative state and cooperative behaviour of  [read the full story…]

Smear layer removal improved pulpectomy outcome in primary teeth

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Pulpectomy is, indicated for primary teeth with irreversibly inflamed or necrotic radicular pulps because of caries or trauma. The main aim of this trial was to evaluate the outcome of pulpectomy with smear layer removal versus no smear layer removal. Patients were randomised to receive pulpectomy under rubber dam with either smear layer removal (G1) [read the full story…]

Success criteria for dental implants

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Success criteria for dental implants were proposed by Albrektsson et al in the 1980s and while osseointegration remains a predominant marker a range of other parameters have been introduced over the years.  The aim of this review was to was to examine the most frequently used criteria to define treatment success in implant dentistry. The [read the full story…]

Calcium hydroxide effective for partial pulpectomy in primary molars

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Pulpotomy  is one of a number of approaches (indirect pulp capping, direct pulp capping, pulpotomy, pulpectomy) for managing carious lesions approaching the pulp of primary teeth with the aim of retaining  the tooth in a symptom free state until it is lost naturally thus avoiding an extraction.  Formocresol has been used for a number of [read the full story…]

Some evidence for the presence of hepatitis viruses A, B and C in oral fluids

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Viral hepatitis is caused by five distinct viruses (A-F) and they represent a significant worldwide healthcare problem. Three of the viruses hepatitis A, B and C (HAV, HBV, HCV) are the most common causes. Recently, there has been renewed interest in whether oral fluids can be considered as a source of viral hepatitis transmission.  There [read the full story…]

Little evidence for drug treatments for oral submucous fibrosis

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Oral Submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic disease caused by the use of areca nut. It  is associated with significant morbidity (including pain and reduced oral opening) and an increased risk for malignancy. The aim of this review identify the published literature on the role of various drugs in the treatment of oral submucous fibrosis. [read the full story…]

Chlorhexidine is not effective in preventing coronal caries

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While dental caries has a significant impact on adults much of the research on the prevention of this common disease is focussed on children.  The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a chlorhexidine (CHX) coating, compared with a placebo coating, reduces dental caries increment in at-risk adults over a period of [read the full story…]

Seasons Greetings to all Dental Elf readers and followers.

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The Dental Elf is taking a short break over the festive period  but we will be back on the 2nd of January to welcome in the New Year with more of the latest oral and dental research.  I hope that 2012 is a peaceful and prosperous one for you all. Best wishes The Dental Elf. [read the full story…]

Limited new information on the treatment of posterior crossbites

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Maxillary expansion is a common orthodontic treatment used for the correction of posterior crossbite resulting from reduced maxillary width.  The aim of this review recent was to  assess the effectiveness of various modalities of orthopaedic/orthodontic expansion of maxillary arches with crossbite and the associated 6 month post retention stability. The authors searched ,Cochrane Central Register [read the full story…]