Following orthodontic treatment almost every patient will require a period of retention without which there is a tendency for teeth to return to their initial position. The aim of this trial was to compare three different retention methods. Patient s completing a first course of orthodontic treatment were randomized into three retention methods: vacuum-formed retainer [read the full story…]
Access to oral health care is difficult in many parts of the world. One way of improving this is by delegating tasks traditionally undertaken by dentists to other members of the dental team. The question addressed by this review by Wright et al was: – In populations where non-dentists conduct diagnostic, treatment planning, and/or irreversible/surgical [read the full story…]
One of the adverse effects of orthodontic treatment is the development of white spot lesions (WSLs). The incidence of these early carious lesions has been reported to vary between 5-97% . The aim of this trial was to effectiveness of MI Paste Plus and PreviDent fluoride varnish (22,600 ppm of fluoride) with a standard oral [read the full story…]
Dental caries is a chronic disease that usually progresses slowly. The demineralisation of the tooth seen in the early stages of dental decay are reversible so progression to cavitation can be prevented. The aim of this review was to appraise the evidence for the efficacy of nonsurgical caries preventive methods to arrest or reverse the [read the full story…]
Yesterday (Dental Elf 14th Jan 2012) we looked at a review that compared cast and fibre posts in-vitro. Here we are looking at a trail that compares the use of more flexible, dentine-like (low Young modulus) glass fibre–reinforced epoxy resin posts (GFREPs) with rather rigid, stiff (higher Young modulus) titanium posts (TPs) in order to [read the full story…]
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is usually episodic and self-limiting but can produce severe ulcers that interfere with eating speaking and swallowing. Minor RAS (MiRAS) is the most common form. The aim of this trial was to investigate the efficacy and safety of berberine (an isoquinoline alkaloid originally isolated from medicinal herbs) in the treatment of [read the full story…]
Some of the evidence used to in the formulation of the NICE guidance on antibiotic prophylaxis for invasive dental procedures that we discussed yesterday was the recognition that everyday oral activities cause bacteraemia (Dental Elf 10th May 2011). This new cross-sectional study by Zhang et al looked the bacteraemia caused by flossing compared with scaling [read the full story…]
In March 2008 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) produced new guidance recommending the cessation of antibiotic prophylaxis for all patients at risk of infective endocarditis undergoing dental and a wide range of other invasive procedures. At the time this was controversial and although there were similar changes to recommendations in American [read the full story…]
A number of new critical summaries have been made available on the ADE-EBD website of the past few weeks. The first is an appraisal of a 2010 review by Martínez-Maestre et al. that looked at the association between dental bone loss and systemic osteoporosis. The reviewer highlighted that this was a weak review of observational [read the full story…]
Christmas and the New Year is a busy period for us Elves, so we will be taking a short break from blogging over the festive period and coming back to a computer near you on the 7th January 2013. Many thanks to all our readers and followers Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda. [read the full story…]
