There are around 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year. Some of these events occur in the presence of relatives who may witness the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by the resuscitation team (you can find out more about CPR at the Resuscitation Council’s website). The emotional consequences of this for the relatives and the [read the full story…]
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is substantially more effective than standard care at reducing symptoms of health anxiety in medical patients, and can be delivered by non-specialist staff with minimal training at little extra cost, according to an RCT published by The Lancet today. The CHAMP (Cognitive behaviour therapy for Health Anxiety in Medical Patients) trial [read the full story…]
Patients attending for their regular dental check up (usually 6-monthly) are likely to have a ‘scale and polish (oral prophylaxis) as part of that visit. However, a Cochrane review last updated in 2007 did not find evidence of sufficient quality to reach conclusions as to the benefits or harms or routine scaling and polishing. A [read the full story…]
Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) is a relatively common problem and we have reported on a number of studies and reviews over the past 12 months that have assessed various treatments to alleviate this problem. This aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a prophylaxis paste containing 15% calcium sodium phosphosilicate (NovaMin® ), with [read the full story…]
Around 20% of adults in the UK smoke cigarettes regularly. Smoking was the primary cause of approximately 462,900 hospital admissions and 79,100 (18%) deaths in adults over the age of 35 last year. Therefore, smoking cessation represents a serious (and costly!) clinical challenge on an individual and global level. Many smoking cessation aids are available, [read the full story…]
Irrigation procedures and protocols are a key stage in root canal therapy. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of root canal treatments with and without additional ultrasonic activation of the irrigant by evaluating the endodontic outcome. Patients with a single-rooted maxillary or mandibular incisor, canine, or premolar tooth the required root [read the full story…]
Compliance with oral hygiene measures during orthodontic treatment is important in order to prevent white spot lesions (WSL) developing. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between reminding patients of the importance of oral hygiene via weekly text message reminders sent to their parents/guardians and demonstrated oral hygiene compliance. [read the full story…]
In those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse or dependence is the most common co-morbid disorder. Unfortunately, although individuals with PTSD and alcohol dependence (AD) often have complex needs, the treatments available usually only target one issue. This is often due to specialist treatment services not having access to treatments for comorbid disorders, and [read the full story…]
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition that has recently been given a significant amount of TV airplay and media coverage, perhaps most notably in the Channel 4 documentary Jon Richardson: A little bit OCD, which received mostly good reviews from mental health groups. Despite this reasonable public profile, our knowledge about the best way [read the full story…]
There has been a lot of interest in how to best manage deep carious lesions to maintain pulp vitality. Different approaches have included the partial removal of caries only, stepwise removal and full removal. In the stepwise approach, caries is partially removed and the remainder sealed in for a period of 1-6 months. The lesion [read the full story…]
