The effects of dental local anaesthetic often prolonged, particularly soft tissue numbness. This may affect appearance, the ability to speak, smile or eat following dental treatment. Phentolamine mersylate has been shown to accelerate the return of soft tissue feeling after routine dental procedures and was licensed by The Food and Drugs Administration for dental use [read the full story…]
Dental diseases are very common and the cost of treating them places significant economic costs on society and yet the economic impact of dental interventions has received limited analysis. The aim of this review was to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the economics of dentistry published between 1997 and 2011; judge the quality of [read the full story…]
The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) has recently launched guidance for the management of patients with acute dental problems. The scope of the guidance is to:- Encourage a consistent approach to the management of acute dental problems to reduce avoidable variation in practice Improve the quality of unscheduled clinical care for patients with acute [read the full story…]
The latest critical summary to come from the ADA-EBD Center is of a 2010 review by Schley et al. The aim of the original review was to assess the 5-year survival rates of all-ceramic zirconia-based fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) and to analyze technical and biological complications. The reviewer highlighted a number of issues with the [read the full story…]
The traditional management of caries by the removal of all softened demineralised dentine before a filling is placed is being increasingly challenged. This updated Cochrane review aims to assess the effects of stepwise, partial or no dentinal caries removal compared with complete caries removal for the management of dentinal caries in previously unrestored primary and [read the full story…]
Dental implants are increasingly being used to replace missing teeth in contrast to the more traditional use of bridges or dentures. Implants have been used since the 1970s with the recommendation that they were kept load –free during the healing period (3-4months for the mandible, 6-8 months for the maxilla) . Since the 1990s studies [read the full story…]
The March issues of the Cochrane Library includes two new protocols relevant to Oral Health. The first protocol :- Arora A, Foster JP, Gillies D, Moxey AJ, Moody G, Curtis B. Breastfeeding for oral health in preschool children (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD010416. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010416. Has the main [read the full story…]
Fissure sealants have been in use since the 1960s and previous reviews have shown them to be effective in reducing caries. This review is the 4th update of the Cochrane review by Ahovuo-Saloranta et al and includes studies up November 2012. The main aim of the review was to compare the effects of different types [read the full story…]
The Dental Elf is taking a break for Easter and will be back on the 8th April.
As bacteraemia occurs during toothbrushing (Dental Elf 5th Oct 2011) it is to be anticipated during more invasive activities such as flossing, scaling (Dental Elf 9th Jan 2013) and dental extractions. The main aim of this study was to directly compare and determine the effect of a pre- procedure rinse of 0.12% chlorhexidine on the [read the full story…]
