Eight RCTs were summarised in this review suggesting that regular patient motivation sessions and cleaning by a hygienist helped maintain good oral hygiene. No quantitative summaries was conducted so the magnitude of the benefit is unclear.
This new Cochrane review identified 11 RCTs and suggests that for those undergoing orthognathic surgery, long term antibiotic prophylaxis decreased the risk of surgical site infection compared with short-term regimens.
This systematic review only identified 5 small studies focussed on a limited sub group of the populations at risk of root caries. The available evidence is limited and cannot be used to provide recommendations on restorative treatment for root caries.
This review looks at one potential side effect of clear aligner treatment, periodontal health. However only 5 small studies of limited quality are available. All of the included studies found that periodontal health improved however because of the limited evidence available the findings should be interpreted with caution.
This systematic review examines the effectiveness of manual therapy and exercise on adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) a common cause of shoulder pain and stiffness.
This review of functional orthodontic appliances included 10 CCTs and 7 RCTs and found they produced short-term improvements in class II malocclusion. This needs to be considered with a recent Cochrane review of early treatment for children with class II malocclusion that found that it was more effective in reducing the incidence of incisal trauma than providing one course of orthodontic treatment in early adolescence.
Can CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) based treatment strategies be delivered by physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals? Heather Gray reports on a systematic review.
Laurence Palfreyman considers the very small and mixed evidence base of mental health interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children presented in a well conducted systematic review from last year.
This Cochrane review included 14 trials of variable quality that could not be combined due to variation in local anaesthetic delivery and outcome measures. So the results from individual studies for pain, bleeding and other adverse effects are uncertain.
Professor Jill Manthorpe begins 2015 with a blog considering a systematic review on interventions to prevent and respond to violence against disabled people. She reflects on how social workers use systematic review papers as part of evidence based practice and gives some useful pointers for reading and getting the most from such studies.