Reducing gagging during dental treatment – insufficient evidence for any intervention

shutterstock_44704711

This Cochrane review was only able to identify a single small RCTs of acupuncture to reduce gagging during dental treatment. This was insufficient to conclude any benefit. No evidence of other interventions was identified.

[read the full story...]

Sedation or general anaesthesia for dental treatment in children

shutterstock_29487928

This update of a Cochrane review, first published in 2009, did not identify any RCTs comparing the efficiency of sedation versus general anaesthesia (GA) for the provision of a dental treatment.

[read the full story...]

Smoking and tooth loss associated finds study

Smoking man

This large German cohort study with 23,376 participants found that smoking was associated with tooth loss with heavy males smokers (≥15 cigarettes per day) having a 3 times higher tooth loss.

[read the full story...]

Gingival retraction: cord or cordless systems?

crown preparation

This review of corded vs. cordless gingival retraction systems included 7 trials. Both may have a role with corded systems being suggested when there is a greater need for gingival displacement.

[read the full story...]

Periodontal treatment and adverse pregnancy outcomes

shutterstock_57647551

This study updates a previous meta-analysis adding 2 new studies and reassessing the findings. Overall, it suggests that the provision of periodontal treatment does not seem to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes, although there is a suggestion of benefit in high risk populations.

[read the full story...]

Partial dentures provided partial compensation for masticatory function

shutterstock_120486451

This review looked at the ability of partial dentures to improve masticatory performance. 8 studies involving 180 patients were included suggesting that RPDs partially compensated for this reduced performance.

[read the full story...]

Root filled teeth: crown or fill? The evidence is limited

shutterstock_17046487- endodontic treatment

This update of a 2012 Cochrane review of the effectiveness of crowns or conventional fillings for root filled teeth found insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of either approach.

[read the full story...]

Lingual orthodontics – no high quality evidence of effectiveness

shutterstock_155175200

16 studies were included in this review but the majority were retrospective with only 1 RCT at unclear risk of bias. While the available data suggests satisfactory clinical outcomes, no high quality evidence is available.

[read the full story...]

Azithromycin as an adjunctive antibiotic in non-surgical periodontal therapy

shutterstock_129331361

Another new review of local or systemic azithromycin as an adjunct in non-surgical periodontal therapy includes 14 RCTs and demonstrates small benefits in periodontal parameters. However, the included studies are small and it is unclear if the benefits are clinically important.

[read the full story...]

Azithromycin as an adjunct to scaling and root planing for periodontal disease

shutterstock_114254617

This review of azithromycin as an adjunct to scaling and root planing for periodontal disease included 9 small RCTs. While some studies demonstrated some small improvements in periodontal parameters, there was no data to demonstrate superiority of azithromycin against the standard antibiotic combination of metronidazole and amoxicillin.

[read the full story...]