The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.
An updated version of ‘Delivering Better Oral Health, ’ the oral health prevention toolkit published iby Public Health England to provide practical evidence-based guidance for promoting oral health and preventing oral disease is now available.
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This review assessing the risk of losing teeth among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to those without DM included 10 studies the majority of which were cross-sectional (80%). While the findings suggest higher risk of tooth loss in patients with diabetes the findings should be viewed cautiously.
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This review comparing the clinical performance of flossing before or after toothbrushing included two small RCTs involving a total of 60 patients. The findings suggest no difference with the use of floss before or after toothbrushing however the quality of the evidence is limited.
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This blog on a review evaluating the association between periodontal disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was written by the Scottish Special Care StRs following a critical appraisal workshop. The review included 13 studies and suggests a link between PD and AD/MCI, but the evidence is limited.
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This review comparing elastomeric ligation with self-ligation and steel wire ligation for orthodontic appliances and their effect on clinical outcomes included 11 RCTs. The findings suggest no significant differences although the trials were small with a majority at high risk of bias.
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Sergio Uribe in his first Dental ELf blog looks at this review of the predictive performance of seven caries risk assessment models. While the findings suggest a resonable performance from the full and reduced Cariogram more high quality studies are needed in particular in relation to communication of risk to patients and its impact.
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This Cochrane review of the effectiveness of lasers in the treatment of dentine hypersensitivity included 23 RCTs. The findings suggest that lasers may reduce pain intensity at short, medium, or long term when compared to placebo/no treatment. However the evidence is limited and of low to very low certainty.
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This review evaluating risk factors / predictors of tooth loss in patients with periodontitis having periodontal therapy and long-term periodontal maintenance (PM) included 33 studies only 3 of which were prospective. There findings suggest that patients having long-term PM suffer the loss of 1 tooth per patient every 10 years.
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This review of whether plaque-disclosing (PD) methods, applied by dental professionals or at-home with verbal oral hygiene instruction (OHI)improved plaque control compared with OHI alone included 7 RCTs involving 430 patients.
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This review of the efficacy of rubber bristles interdental cleaners (RBIC) as an adjunct to toothbrushing (TB) included 6 RCTs. The findings provide weak to very weak certainty evidence for the use of RBICs for gingivitis and plaque reduction.
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