oral health

The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.

Our oral health Blogs

Traumatic dental injuries in primary teeth

Can the physically active, playful environments of pre-school settings provide a blueprint for obesity prevention in primary schools?

This review of the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) in primary teeth and factos associated with TDI includes 21 cross-sectional studies.

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Chronic periodontitis: Efficacy of adjunctive antimicrobials

Many drugs are licensed for use in Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), but it is unclear what works best.

This review of the efficacy of antimicrobials adjunctive to scaling and root planing (SRP) in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. 21 RCTs were included with the findings showing that amoxicillin and metronidazole had the largest statistical benefit. Whether this benefit is a clinically important benefit is a wider question.

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Diabetes and dental implants

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This review of the possible association between diabetes mellitus and dental implant complications included 10 cohort studies (8 prospective 2 retrospective). The findings suggest that patients with diabetes are more likely to have clinical complications with dental implants.

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Parental presence and children’s dental anxiety

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This review of whether parents’ presence in the room influences children’s behaviour, anxiety and fear during dental treatment included 16 studies. The findings suggest that parents’ presence in the operation room does not influence children’s (up to 12 years old) behaviour, anxiety and fear during dental treatment. However the included studies are all at high risk of bias so the certainty of the evidence is very low.

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Dental Fear in Adults

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This review aiming to estimate the global prevalence of dental fear in adults included 31 observational studies the majority of which were at high risk of bias. The findings suggest an overal prevalence of 15.3 % (95%CI; 10.23 to 21.15%).

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COVID-19 Dental Elf Blogs – 5

coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2)

Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus just over a year ago we have published a number of dental blogs relevant to COVID-19. The blogs cover topics such as dental teams’ generic risk of disease, baseline risk of covid-19, asymptomatic patients and the risk of community spread, digital thermometers, mouthwash use, surgical mask types, gown [read the full story…]

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis and serum zinc levels

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This review of the potential association between zinc levels and occurrence of Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) included 19 case-controlled studies. The findings show a sigificant association between low zinc levels and RAS.

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Oral hygiene compliance in orthodontic patients

The authors recommended that people with severe mental illness should be given help with oral hygiene.

This review of the effectiveness of behavioural change techniques (BCTs) on individuals undergoing orthodontic treatment included 10 studies involving 1017 patients. While the interventions tested improved oral health behaviours the quality of the evidence is very low.

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Dentures: Overnight storage and Candida Albicans colonisation

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This review of the effect of overnight storage conditions on complete denture colonization by Candida albicans included 6 small studies. The available evidence is limited and of low quality so well conducted and reported trials of appropriate size and required.

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Tobacco cessation delivered by dental professionals

These are promising findings, but we are some way from being able to recommend specific interventions to help people stick with their smoking cessation medication.

This review of tobacco cessation interventions offered by dental professionals included 20 clinical trials. Advice and support form dental professionals that involved NRT or e-cigarettes was more likely to help patients stop smoking

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