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…]
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…]
The aim of this study was to investigate whether fixation of fractures of the mandibular angle using miniplates placed through a transbuccal approach resulted in lower infection rates that those placed on the mandibular external oblique ridge using an intra-oral approach. What did they do Patients were randomised (by year of birth) to having their [read the full story…]
In addition to being a risk factor for mouth cancer and periodontal disease, smoking is associated with staining of the teeth. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is widely used to assist patients quit smoking. In vitro tests of NRT gum have suggested that they may have stain reduction effects. A product which not only assists smokers [read the full story…]
Ooh, what a palaver over the depression and exercise story! Such a lot of words have been written about the study published in the BMJ last week, including by me. The study itself was well conducted but frankly disappointing (for us readers and the researchers themselves), finding as it did that a specific treatment to [read the full story…]
Back from my 5-mile run around the woodland yesterday morning I sat down to catch up on the latest elf stories. Many of the national newspapers reported on a new randomised controlled trial published in the BMJ, which studied ‘facilitated physical activity’ for people with depression. The headlines seemed to be in agreement: Exercise ‘no [read the full story…]
Unfortunately for patients with irreversible pulpitis inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) is not always successful in achieving satisfactory levels of anaesthesia. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of supplementary repeat inferior alveolar nerve block with 2% lidocaine and epinephrine, buccal infiltration with 4% articaine with epinephrine, intraligamentary injection, or intraosseous injection [read the full story…]
