Derek Richards

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Derek Richards is the Director of the Centre for Evidence-based Dentistry, Editor of the Evidence-based Dentistry Journal, Consultant in Dental Public Health with Forth Valley Health Board and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Dundee & Glasgow Dental Schools. He helped to establish both the Centre for Evidence-based Dentistry and the Evidence-based Dentistry Journal. He has been involved with teaching EBD and a wide range of evidence-based initiatives both nationally and internationally since 1994.

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Third molar extractions: Which anaesthetic solution for the best pain control?

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This review of the effectiveness of different anaesthetic solutions for pain control immediately after the extraction of lower third molars included 45 studies.13 studies were included in a network meta-analys whch suggested 5% bupivacaine reduces pain in patients during and immediately after the removal of lower third molars.

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Prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders

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This review was to evaluate the prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) among the general population. 21 studies involving a total of 11,535 patients were included with the findings suggesting a prevalence of 29.3% (95%CI; 6.1–72.3%) in adults assessed using the RDC/TMD Criteria.

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Light-based tests for early caries detection

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This Cochrane review aimed to estimate the diagnostic test accuracy of different illumination tests for the detection and diagnosis of enamel caries in children or adults. 24 datasets from 23 studies were included with optical coherence tomography showing the most potential but more research is needed.

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Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART)- factors affecting success rate

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This review of the factors that affect the success rate of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) restorations in children included 47 studies. THe findings suggest that the operator and and type of restoration are significant factors influencing the success.

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Direct pulp capping in permanent teeth

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This review the outcome of direct pulp capping (DPC) in mature permanent teeth with a cariously exposed pulp and a clinical diagnosis of reversible pulpitis included 14 studies. The findings suggest that direct pulp capping is generally a clinically effective procedure in teeeth with reversible pulpitis.

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Obstructive sleep apnoea–Effectiveness of different mandibular advancement devices

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This review of the the effectiveness of different mandibular advancement devices for obstructive sleep apnoea included 50 RCTS. While the findins suggest that mono-bloc MADs are more effective duo-bloc devices the quality of the available evidence is very low.

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Intracanal cryotherapy in root canal treatment

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This review of the effect of intracanal cryotherapy in reducing postoperative pain after instrumentation or obturation in root canal treatment included 8 RCTs. The findings suggest that suggests that intracanal cryotherapy in the form of cold saline irrigation as the final irrigant significantly reduces pain between 6 and 24 hours after root canal therapy.

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Oral hygiene for critically ill patients

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This Cochrane review updated assessing the impact of oral health measures on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care includes 40 RCTs and suggests that Chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel, as part of oral health measures, probably reduces the incidence of developing VAP.

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Fluorescence devices for caries detection

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This Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy review of fluorescence-based devices for the detection and diagnosis of enamel caries included 131 studies with 114 datasets from 79 studies contributing to the meta-analyses.

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Top Dental Elf Blogs: Oct – Dec 2020

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Blogs on Hyposalivation in the elderly, powered toothbrushes for patients undergoing orthodontic treatment and the impact of smoking on the outcomes of non-surgical periodontal treatment were our most popular blogs.

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