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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Cleft lip and palate patients have higher caries experience

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Twenty four studies were included in this review of caries status in children with cleft lip and palate. The findings suggest that caries experience in higher in children with cleft lip and palate in both primary and permanent dentition

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Orthodontic treatment duration: no shorter with customised orthodontic system

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This well conducted and reported trial compared customised orthodontic system against traditional methods. The customised system was not associated with any significant reduction in treatment duration, and the treatment outcomes were comparable with both systems.

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Silver diamine fluoride: 38% more effective than 12% in arresting caries

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This randomised controlled trial compared 12 and 38 % silver diamine fluoride applied annually and bi-annually to kindergarten children. . 38% applied bi-annually was most effective providing a 9% additional benefit over an annual application.

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Motivational Interviewing for adolescent oral health

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This large well-conducted 3-arm cluster RCT compared motivational interviewing(MI) with prevailing health education. Both MI arms of the study were more effective in eliciting positive changes in adolescents’ oral health behaviours and preventing dental caries after 12 months.

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Malocclusion: Is it associated with duration of breastfeeding?

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31 observational studies were included in this review of breastfeeding and malocclusion . This findings suggests that it may be protective against posterior crossbite and class II malocclusion. However as teh studies are largely retrospective the findings should be interpreted with caution.

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Breastfeeding and caries: New review supports earlier findings

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"Breast is best" is the clear message to all new Mums, but should this advice be tailored for women with depression?

This new review on the effect of breastfeeding on caries supports the findings of earlier reviews that breastfeeding up to the age of 12 months has a protective effect for dental caries.

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Sleep bruxism: risk factors

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This review of risk factors for sleep bruxism identified 9 studies involving a total of 12,454 patients. Strong associations were found for sleep bruxism, GERD and a gene related to serotonergic neurotransmission.

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Nonsurgical periodontal treatment: adjunctive antibiotic use in diabetics

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Participants ranked the clinical instruments most highly

This review of adjunctive use of systemic antibiotics in nonsurgical periodontal treatment of diabetics identified 12 small RCTs. No additional benefit was seen with antibiotic use

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Regenerative endodontic treatment or MTA apical plug in teeth with pulp necrosis and open apices?

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By Drs. Ken Hargreaves and Obadah Austah, Dept of Endodontics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio - Ken Hargreaves, CC BY 3.0 us, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30784169

This review of regenerative endodontic treatment (RET) or mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) apical plug (MAP)in the treatment of teeth with pulp necrosis and open apices used broad inclusion criteria. 144 studies were identified suggesting promising outcomes. However the quality of the available evidence is very low and more high quality research is needed.

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Regenerative endodontics in non-vital immature permanent teeth

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By Drs. Ken Hargreaves and Obadah Austah, Dept of Endodontics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio - Ken Hargreaves, CC BY 3.0 us, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30784169

This review of regenerative endodontics for non-vital immature permanent teeth included 14 studies. Although suggesting good outcomes overall they were of low quality with a high risk of bias. Larger high quality studies are needed.

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