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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Simplified complete denture fabrication can replace traditional approaches suggests review

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This review of simplified approaches for complete denture construction includes 11 studies ( 7 RCTs) The available studies are small but suggest that the simplified approach could replace the conventional approach.

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Corticotomy for facilitating orthodontic treatment – limited research available

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14 studies ( 6 RCTs) were included in this review of corticotomy for facilitating orthodontic treatment. While the results found produce statistically and clinically meaningful temporary increases in the rate of orthodontic tooth movement the studies were small and of low quality.

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Lasers for surgical periodontal treatment – insufficient evidence of effectiveness

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Eight small trials were identified for this review of lasers as an adjunct to surgical periodontal treatment. The limited number of studies and variation in the types of lasers used means there is insufficient evidence to support their effectiveness.

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Topical fluoride for remineralising and arresting carious lesions

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This review looked at topical fluoride for remineralising or arresting caries. 17 RCTs were included and overall remineralised early enamel caries using % fluoride varnish = 63.6 % (95% CI; 36.0 to 91.2 %) and 38% silver diamine fluoride had an overall proportion of arrested dentine caries = 65.9% (95% CI; 41.2 to 90.7 %).

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High frequency or prolonged use of mouthwash increased risk of head and neck cancer

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This study from the INHANCE collaboration pooled data from 12 case-controlled studies. Long-term use (35 yrs) of mouthwash was associated with an increase risk OR=1.15 (95%CI; 1.01 to 1.30) of head and neck cancer but with regular (>2 x daily), long-term (>35 years) use OR = 1.75 (95%CI; 1.25 to 2.48).

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Coffee consumption and oral cancer

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Prescribing a placebo does not equate to no treatment, because the healthcare setting itself should include all kinds of supportive and therapeutic elements.

This review includes 11 case-controlled and 4 cohort studies and suggests a 37% reduction of oral cancer risk in high coffee drinkers compared with low or no coffee drinkers OR= 0.63 (95%CI; 0.52 – 0.75)

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Orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances – how long does it take?

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25 studies include 20 RCTs and 5 controlled trials were included this review. They were all conducted in a hospital or university setting and found that treatment duration was on average 19.9 months (95% CI; 19.58 to 20.22 months) over 17.81visits ( 95%CI; 19.71 to 20.32 months)

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Tobacco use and alcohol intake key risk factors for head and neck cancer

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The International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium is a collaboration of research groups leading large epidemiology studies to improve the understanding of the causes and mechanisms of head and neck cancer. This overview paper provides a summary their findings over the past decade.

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Neem-based mouthwash –little evidence available

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This review of the effectiveness of neem-based mouthwash for improving plaque control and gingival health only identified 3 low quality RCTs of short duration providing little evidence to assess its effectiveness.

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Adhesively bonded amalgams – insufficient evidence of better performance

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This Cochrane review update only identified 1 RCT assessing the difference in survival between bonded and non-bonded amalgam restorations providing insufficient evidence to support or refute a difference.

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