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

Powered toothbrushes for patients undergoing fixed orthodontic appliance treatment?

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This review of the effect of powered and manual toothbrushes on oral health during fixed applinace orthodontic treatment included 7 RCTs. The findings suggest no diference between the toothbrush types. However the quality of the evidence is low and the studies are of short duration.

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Bruxism: Are botulinum toxin injections effective in management?

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The review of the use of botulinum toxin type A injections in the management of primary bruxism in adults included 10 studies. Only 6 of the included studies were RCTs and the studies were generally small are very hetrogeneous so additional well designed and conducted RCTs are needed.

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Hyposalivation: Prevalence in the elderly

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13 studies involving a total of 3885 patients were included in this review of the prevalence of hyposalivation in individuals aged ≥ 60 years. The findings suggest an overall prevalence of 33.4% (95%CI; 23.9- 43.6%).

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Dental check-ups: How often should you go?

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This Cochrane review update of the optimal recall interval of dental check-up for oral health in a primary care setting included 2 RCTs. The findings show little to no difference between six‐monthly and risk‐based check‐ups in tooth decay, gum disease and quality of life after four years.

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Saliva in the diagnosis of COVID-19

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Saliva has been suggested as having potential diagnostic value in COVID-19 patients. In this blog Manas Dave looks at a recent review of the subject which included 28 studies.

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Dental trauma, associations and risk factors

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This overview of the associations and risk factors for the occurrence of traumatic dental injury included 19 stustamatic reviews. The reviews considered 22 differing risk factors but only 4 of the reviews were assessed to be of moderate quality the remainder being considered to be of low (11) or critically low (4)quality.

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Dental Anxiety: Prevalence in children and adolescents

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This review of the global prevalence of dental anxiety in children and adolescents included 50 studies reported in 57 papers. The findings showed that dental anxiety is a frequent problem in 3‐ to 18‐year‐olds worldwide being commoner in schoolchildren and preschool children than in adolescents.

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Motivational Interviewing: Is it effective in preventing early childhood caries?

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This review of teh effectivenesss of motivational interviewing (MI) in the prevention of early childhood caries included 14 trials of which eight ccontributed to the meta-analyses. The findings suggest that approached based on MI may be useful in prevention of early childhood caries.

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Oral health promotion programmes for adolescents

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Accessing online mental health sites is becoming easier due to the availability of laptops and smart phones, meaning teenagers can be connected wherever they are

This review of the effectiveness of health promotion interventions on oral health knowledge, behaviour and status of healthy adolescents included 28 programmes reported in 37 publications.

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Avulsed teeth: Storage media used before replantation

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This review of the effectiveness of any technique available to laypeople for storing an avulsed tooth compared with storage in milk or saliva included 33 studies. Findings suggest that milk, Hank’s balanced salt solution, propolis, oral rehydration salts, rice water, and cling film extend periodontal ligament cell viability before replantation.

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