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…]
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…]
I was watching the Liverpool v Manchester United football match yesterday and was interested in the pre-match warm up the players were doing. There was lots of stretching of the hamstrings going on. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes and frequently result in long delays in return to sport. So what is the comparative effectiveness [read the full story…]
Endodontically treated teeth (ETT) are considered to be more brittle and subject to fracture. Posts are frequently used to restore ETT and use of the appropriate post material is considered important to a successful restoration. The aim of this review of in-vitro studies was to compare the fracture load of ETT restored with cast of [read the full story…]
Significant blood loss can occur during orthognathic surgery and there are risks associated with blood transfusion so minimizing blood loss during surgery is important. A large number of trials and reviews have shown that the antifibrinolytic agent tranexamic acid ( a synthetic amino acid lysine analog ) can effectively reduce bleeding in a number of [read the full story…]
Evidence-based treatments for mental health conditions have come on in leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. I remember as a young elf, skipping around the country and running workshops on evidence-based mental health; training psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and others. There wasn’t much gold standard evidence to choose from back then and there was [read the full story…]
I’ve read with interest a number of recent publications that suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may be less effective in patients receiving disability benefits versus other patients. The theory here is that the specific circumstances of being on disability benefits may somehow lead to poorer outcomes following CBT. There’s some evidence in other clinical [read the full story…]
The 2010/11 British Crime Survey reported that levels of lifetime partner abuse were 27% in women and 17% in men. The survey concluded that women experience more domestic violence than men and the abuse is more severe and prolonged in women. The Home Office is planning to redefine domestic violence in the coming months, to [read the full story…]
Unfortunately dental caries remains a significant problem in children with some young children requiring multiple procedures. Traditionally this was managed with general anesthesia, increasingly sedation and behaviour management are seen as potential alternative approaches and a 2010 guideline from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) suggested that midazolam could be used for [read the full story…]
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the primary stabilising structure within the knee, limiting anterior translation of tibia on the femur as well as tibial internal rotation. Injuries are more common in high demand sports and usually follow non- contact trauma such as landing incorrectly from a jump, pivoting or decelerating suddenly, but can occur [read the full story…]
