This review assessing the risk of alveolar osteitis (AO) in in oral contraceptive users included 17 mainly observational studies. The findings showed an increased risk of developing AO in female oral contraceptive (OCP) users, RR = 1.98 (95%CI:1.42 to 2.76) compared to female non-OCP users
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This Cochrane review update looked at local interventions used for the prevention and treatment of alveolar osteitis (dry socket) following tooth extraction. 49 RCTs were included providing moderate certainty evidence for chlorhexidine rinses and gel for probably reduction in dry sockets.
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This review of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to reducedpostoperative complications following lower third molar surgery included 6 RCTs.
The findings are consistent to other reviews finding that PRF derivative may lead to improvements in postoperative outcomes from third molar surgery but the amount of evidence is limited.
This review of the effectiveness of leukocyte-and platelet-rich fibrin (L-PRF) and advanced-platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) in mandibular third molar extraction included 10 RCTs. While the findings suggest some benefits the studies are small and limited in number so the findings should be interpreted cautiously.
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This review of the effectiveness of warm saltwater mouthwashes in preventing incidence of dry socket following tooth extraction included 8 RCTs. Only one of the included studies was considered to be at low risk of bias with the findings indicting that saltwater was more effective than no moutwash but less effective than chlorhexidine.
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Four RCTs involving a total of 212 patients were included in this review of a single pre-operative dose of oral corticosteroids in reducing pain,swelling & trismus after surgical removal of lower third molars. While the findings suggested there was little benefit to the patients none of the studies were small and none of them were at low risk of bias.
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This Cochrane review update of the effect of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis on the prevention of infectious complications following tooth extractions included 23 studies. There was very-low certainty evidence that prophylactic antibiotics may reduce the risk of infection and dry socket following third molar extraction compared to placebo.
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This Cochrane review upate compares the relative benefits and risks of different techniques for surgical removal of mandibular wisdom teeth. While the review includes 25 new trials the quality of the studies was variable with many having biases that could have influenced the findings so no meaningful conclusions could be drawn.
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This Cochrane review of the effects of removal compared with retention (conservative management) of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth updates the 2016 version. No new studies were identified so the conclusions are unchanged.
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This review comparing the effects of envelope and triangular flaps for mandibular third molar surgery included 20 RCTs involving 770 patients. A majority of the studies were of cross-over design with the findings suggesting no differences in teh outcomes between the two flap designs.
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