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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Sleep bruxism: validity of diagnostic tools

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This review of diagnostic tools for sleep bruxism included 8 studies the majority being at high risk of bias. Portable diagnostic devices had best validity but quality of evidence was very-low to moderate.

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Impacted canines: localisation with conventional or cone beam radiographs?

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This review comparing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and conventional radiography (CR) for localising impacted canines included 8 mainly cross-sectional studies and suggests that CBCT is more accurate. However the quality of the studies is low and further research is needed.

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Molar incisor hypomineralisation: prevalence

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70 observational studies were included in this molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) prevalence. The overall prevalence of MIH was estimated to be 14.2%(95%CI; 12.6–15.8).

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Orofacial pain: pharmacological treatments

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The authors sought to review available literature relating to SSRI withdrawal syndromes

This review of pharmacological management of orofacial pain included 41 studies. Evidence suggests that for TMD joint pain NSAIDs, corticosteroids and hyaluronate injections are beneficial and that clonazepam and capsaicin are effective for burning mouth syndrome.

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Motivational interviewing for periodontal disease

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Motivational interviewing works on facilitating and engaging intrinsic motivation within the client in order to bring about behaviour change.

This review of motivational interviewing (MI) as an adjunct to periodontal treatment only included 5 papers reporting 4 studies. The review provides limited evidence to suggest that MI might have a positive effect but more higher quality research is needed.

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Khat chewing has an adverse effect on periodontal tissues

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12 observational studies were included in this review of the effect of khat chewing on periodontal tissues. The available evidence is of limited quality but it suggests that khat use has an adverse effect on periodontal status.

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School-based oral health education only has short term impact

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The review found that adding family-based interventions to school-based interventions may reduce the onset of smoking by 4-25%.

This review of school-based oral health education included 12 trials and found it was effective in reducing plaque accumulation over a short period. there was no long-term evidence on the effectiveness.

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Palatally displaced canines: open or closed surgical exposure?

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This updated Cochrane review comparing open v closed surgical approaches for palatally displaced canines includes 3 studies involving 146 patients with the available evidence suggesting that neither surgical technique for exposing canine teeth is superior.

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Silver diamine fluoride: effectiveness in older adults

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Three RCTs were included in this review of silver diamine fluoride for caries prevention in older adults. all 3 studies support teh effectiveness of SDF for root caries arrest and prevention.

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