The proportion of older people in the population is rising and because of improvement in oral health more of them as retaining their teeth. Consequentially more people in this age group will have more teeth at risk of caries. Dental service utilization is also lower in older age groups and chronic medial conditions; poly-pharmacy, frailty [read the full story…]
It is widely accepted that the occlusal schemes of complete dentures have a direct influence on their success. A Cochrane review by Sutton et al in 2004 only identified one trial that fully met their inclusion criteria; so recommended further well conducted randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The aim of this review was to assess the [read the full story…]
Oral care is an important element of care for older people in care homes as oral health is often poor and can deteriorate rapidly causing pain discomfort and impacting on nutrition and quality of life. With growing numbers of older people this is an area of increasing demand. This aim of the review was to [read the full story…]
It has been estimated that between 10-26% of men and 10-33% of women experience dry mouth. The subjective sensation of dry mouth is called xerostomia and can be found in people with normal salivary gland function. The normal range of salivary production ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 litres per day. The aim of this Cochrane [read the full story…]
Regular and effective removal plaque is considered to be an efective method of controlling and preventing gingivitis. Toothbrushing with dentifrice is a key method and antiplaque agents (eg chlorhexidine, triclosan/copolymer) have been introduced with the aim of increasing effectiveness. The aim of this review was to see if chlorhexidine (CHX) dentifrice /gel was more effective [read the full story…]
Just over a third (36%) of the UK population are reported to be moderately anxious of dental treatment with about 12% reporting extreme dental anxiety. Dental anxiety is not just a UK problem but also a global one with figures varying around the world. New to the Cochrane Library is a protocol of a review, [read the full story…]
Many have suggested a two-way relationship between periodontitis and diabetes mellitus. Poor glycaemic control is associated with an increase risk of periodontal disease and in 2010 a Cochrane review (Simpson et al) estimated a 0.4% reduction of HbA1c associated with periodontal treatment. At that time Simpson et al noted that there were only a small [read the full story…]
Periodontal disease is very common and is an important cause of tooth loss. While the impact of other oral conditions on quality of life the impact from periodontal disease has received less attention. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is a subjective construct that is multidimensional with a number of domains. There is also no [read the full story…]
Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) and various treatments have been used to treat the condition (Dental Elf 17th July). Epidemiological studies have produced prevalence figures for this ranging from 1.34% to 98% so the objective of this study, was to determine by clinical examination combined with a questionnaire, the prevalence of DH in 18–35 years old Europeans [read the full story…]
Periapical abscess is sequelae of the death of the dental pulp often as a result of dental caries or trauma. It is normally managed in dental practice with root canal treatment or extraction. However, if left untreated it can lead in some circumstances lead to the destruction of bone and the spread of infection to [read the full story…]
