Trial shows similar survival for direct and indirect resin composite restoration of fractured cusps

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Cusp fractures of restored posterior teeth are a frequent occurrence with the majority being reported as being supra gingival.  While crowing the tooth is a conventional treatment approach it does require removal of substantial tooth substance.  Adhesive restorations are a potential alternative approach and can be undertaken using direct or indirect approaches.  The aim of [read the full story…]

ADA updates its clinical recommendations on topical fluoride for caries prevention

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In 2006 the American Dental Association (ADA) published recommendations regarding professionally applied topical fluorides.  An update of these guidelines has just been published.  An executive summary is available from the Journal of the American Dental Association and the full report can be downloaded from the ADA – Centre for Evidence-based Dentistry (ADA-EBD) website (see links).   [read the full story…]

Review reiterates that certain features of dental neglect are clearly identifiable

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Sadly child mistreatment, including abuse and neglect are a reality in society.  In the UK, dental neglect has been defined as,  ‘‘the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic oral health needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of a child’s oral or general health and development’’.  The aim of this review was to identify [read the full story…]

Little evidence to assess the effect of ceramic crowns on natural tooth wear

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Some degree of tooth wear is a result of normal tooth-to-tooth contact. Some restorations have different wear characteristics and have been shown to produce accelerated wear.  The aim of this review was to assess tooth wear against ceramic crowns in posterior region both in vitro and in vivo. Searching was restricted to the Medline database. [read the full story…]

Review suggests cleft lip and or palate patients may have higher prevalence of caries

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Cleft lip and palate is a relatively common birth defect that occurs in around 1 in 700  births and there have been contradictory reports of caries prevalence in CLP populations  with some studies finding no difference and others an increase in prevalence.  The aim of this review was to evaluate caries prevalence in non-syndromic patient [read the full story…]

Review suggests that radiotherapy was associated with higher rates of implant loss

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Implant–supported restorations show good success rates in healthy tissues while studies in irradiated jaws contrasting outcomes have been reported. The aim of this review was 
to assess the survival rate of titanium implants placed in irradiated jaws. The Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL, and  OpenGRAY databases were searched together with a number of journals (Clinical Implant [read the full story…]

Review suggests that intraoral appliances are more effective than headgear in distalising upper first molars

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Moving the upper molars backwards during orthodontic treatment is sometimes necessary.  Appliances used for this are categorized in to intraoral or extraoral appliances. External headgear is one of the commonest distalising approaches.  The aim of this Cochrane review was to assess the effects of orthodontic treatment for distalising upper first molars in children and adolescents. [read the full story…]

Elf Break

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The Dental Elf is off to Chicago for the  Advanced EBD workshop at the ADA so no blogs until the week beginning the 28th October.

Some evidence to support use of facemask appliance for class III malocclusions

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Prominent lower front teeth (reverse bite; under bite; Class III malocclusion) are more common in oriental (15%) and black races (10%) and relatively uncommon in Caucasian (4%) populations. Several orthodontic approaches have been suggested to correct this and the aim of this Cochrane review was to assess the effects of orthodontic treatment for prominent lower [read the full story…]

Fluorescence-based caries detection methods need more work to establish diagnostic accuracy

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Earlier this week (Dental Elf 15th Oct 2013) we looked at a systematic review that looked at a range of the newer aids for detecting caries.  The aim of this review was to synthesize the findings about the accuracy of fluorescence-based methods in detecting caries lesions on occlusal, approximal and smooth surfaces of both permanent [read the full story…]