Chewing gum is a activity enjoyed my consumers (particularly teenagers) around the world and is a now multi-billion dollar industry. Historically gums were flavoured with sugar but increasingly sugar substitutes are used, the most common of these being the polyols, sorbitol and xylitol. Chewing stimulates salivary flow and using gum has been recommended when it [read the full story…]
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) affects about 4% of the male and 2% of the female population of North America. Standard treatment is with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) however this has poor adherence in some groups and oral appliance therapy is an alternative therapy. The aim of this trial was to assess variations in [read the full story…]
The shortened dental arch (SDA) has been defined as having an intact anterior region but a reduced number of occluding pairs of posterior teeth. The World Health Organization has stated that the retention, throughout life, of a functional, aesthetic, natural dentition of not less than 20 teeth and not requiring recourse to prostheses should be [read the full story…]
A range of materials have been used for root-end filling after endodontic surgery with a systematic review by Tang and Yin in 2010 finding that; ‘mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) as root-end filling is better than amalgam and purely gutta-percha but similar to intermediate restorative material(IRM).’ However, only a 5 trials could be included in that [read the full story…]
The application of dental bonding to orthodontics had had a significant impact on with bonded appliances replacing multi-banded systems. With the development of bonding systems there is increasing interest in 1-step systems. These self-etch systems (SEPs) are used by about 30% of American practitioners and are thought to reduce chair-side time. The aim of this [read the full story…]
This cost effectiveness study is based on a data from a randomised controlled trial published by Jönsson et al (2010), that trial compared an individually tailored oral health educational programme (ITOHEP) on periodontal health with a standard oral health educational programme. and found, ITOHEP intervention in combination with scaling is preferable to the standard programme [read the full story…]
Dry socket (alveolar osteitis) socket is a painful complication of tooth extraction that occurs in about 5% of extractions of permanent tooth. It is more common following the extraction of wisdom teeth. That aim of this review was to assess whether chlorhexidine, when compared to placebo and/or other interventions, reduced the incidence of alveolar osteitis [read the full story…]
A new critical summary of a 2010 systematic review by Al-Amleh et al on zirconium use in dentistry is now available from the ADA Centre for evidence based dentistry. The summariser notes that three types of zirconium ceramics are currently used in dentistry. The original review’s aim was evaluate these restorations in relation to framework [read the full story…]
Dental caries is unfortunately still a common problem among children worldwide. Cochrane reviews have shown the effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants (Hiiri et al 2009) and fluoride varnishes (Marinho et al 2002) . While other reviews have found silver diamine fluoride (SDF) to be effective (Rosenblatt et al 2009). The aim of this trial [read the full story…]
The upper permanent canine normally erupts between 11-12 years of age. However, for between 1-3% of children this does not occur and in 50% of the cases it is due to the tooth being displaced palatally. Two surgical approaches are used to allow orthodontic alignment. An open procedure where a palatal flap is raised ,overlying [read the full story…]
