Substance misuse has been a bit of a theme on the Mental Elf this week and I’m continuing with that today, firstly with this piece from the Lifestyle Elf. Don’t forget, if you’re interested in healthy lifestyle issues (exercise, obesity, quitting smoking, alcohol, substance misuse), you should be following the excellent Lifestyle Elf blog. Earlier [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…]
Prevention is better than cure, right? When it comes to preventing drug- and alcohol-misuse, children of substance-abusing parents are a really important group to work with, as they are at higher risk of developing their own subtance-related problems, or other mental health problems, than their peers from non-substance-using families. My cousin the Lifestyle Elf has highlighted a [read the full story…]
Classic wound closure following removal of impacted this molars involved the surgeon covering and hermitically closes the socket with a flap, allowing primary wound healing. Proponents of this approach suggest that it decreases the risk of post operative infection. the alternative approach is to allow healing by secondary intention. Those who prefer this approach suggest [read the full story…]
The short answer is we don’t know, but trials are underway that might help answer this question. Postnatal depression often affects women in the first 3 months after giving birth and symptoms can range from low mood and loss of interest in daily activities to thoughts of suicide. There are a range of effective treatments [read the full story…]
The use of antibiotics to prevent complications from the removal of third molars is a cause of debate. The aim of this review was to assess the efficacy of antibiotics in preventing infectious complications after third molar surgery What did they do The Medline Embase, ,and Cochrane databases were searched together with the references in [read the full story…]
One of the complications of the removal of lower third molars ( wisdom teeth) is inferior alveolar nerve injury (IANI) . This has resulted in the use of a new extraction procedure coronectomy (partial odontectomy or root retention) a technique whereby the crown of a tooth is removed but parts of the roots are untouched. [read the full story…]
Following on our story last week about nicotine replacement gum improving tooth staining my colleague the Lifestyle Elf has highlighted the latest evidence from the Cochrane Collaboration on interventions for tobacco cessation in dental settings. Tobacco use has signification negative effects on the oral environment and dentists have a unique opportunity to help their patients [read the full story…]
Third molars (wisdom teeth) generally erupt between the ages of 17-24 years. Often they fail to erupt or only erupt partially. When they do not reach their normal functional position they are considered to be impacted, this can be due to lack of space, obstruction by another tooth, or development in an abnormal position. An [read the full story…]
Fish oil supplements are big business. The worldwide omega-3 market has recently been valued at around $5 billion with 40% growth predicted between 2010 and 2015. Omega-3 fatty acids are fats responsible for many important jobs in the body. We get these fats through our daily diets and the three major omega-3 fats are: Alpha [read the full story…]
