Limited evidence that a flapless approach to implant placement in posterior maxilla is effective

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Flapless approaches to implant placement use rotary burs or a tissue punch to gain access to bone without flap elevation. The theory being that the vascular supply and surrounding soft tissue are well preserved. Flapless surgery is however considered to have a number of limitations, e.g. poor control of precise drilling; inability to preserve keratinized [read the full story…]

New Cochrane Protocol for August 2012

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The August issue of the Cochrane library has one new protocol from the Oral Health Group.  Kozel JA, Macedo CR, Atallah ÁN. Laceback ligatures for controlling anchorage in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD010014. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010014.  The aims of this review are to determine [read the full story…]

Review supports effectiveness of fluoride toothpastes in reducing caries in pre-school children

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Despite improvements dental caries remains a significant oral health problem. In some areas increases in caries prevalence has been reported in pre-school children in contracts with other age group. The resultant pain, sepsis and the need for extraction have significant impact on quality of life.  Cochrane and other systematic reviews have shown that use of [read the full story…]

Evidence for the efficacy of clinical methods to assess dry mouth is sparse

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Salivary is a complex substance than contains electrolytes, mucus, glycoproteins, enzymes, lysosomes and immunoglobulin. Its normal production is considered important for oral health.  The aim of this review was to evaluate the quality of the evidence for the efficacy of diagnostic methods used to identify oral dryness. The authors searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library and [read the full story…]

More research needed before polyunsaturated fatty acids can be recommended for ADHD in children and adolescents

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Drug treatments are commonly used to treat children and young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methylphenidate and amphetamine are two of the most popular, but these are not effective for all patients and sometimes cause problematic side effects. Children and adolescents with ADHD have been shown to have significantly lower plasma and blood [read the full story…]

Patellar taping for treating patellofemoral pain syndrome

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Have you noticed on the fantastic TV coverage of the London Olympics 2012 that many of the athletes have medical tape applied directly to their skin. The Dutch women beach volleyball players even had designer tape and the water-polo team must have had waterproof tape. When I was a young Elf in the mid 80s [read the full story…]

Study suggests better outcomes for later treatment of deep bite

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The aim of this trial was to assess the outcomes of early vs late treatment of deep bite patients by means of anterior biteplane appliances followed by fixed appliance therapy. Patients with a deep overbite (> 4.5mm) and fully erupted maxillary and mandibular incisors were allocated to either early or late treatment. Treatment for the [read the full story…]

Small study suggests that low-level laser therapy may have some benefit in treatment oral lichen planus

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Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is a common chronic immunological disease the treatment of which remains a challenge for clinicians.  Two Cochrane reviews  have recently been published regarding the treatment of OLP (Chang et al 2012 and Thongorasom et al 2011 ). The quality of evidence for treatments for OLP is weak, but topical steroids are [read the full story…]

Treating depression and anxiety with the benzodiazepine alprazolam: new Cochrane review recommends caution

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Antidepressants and psychotherapies are the mainstay for treating depression, but another option is the benzodiazepine drug alprazolam, which is recommended for treating depression when anxiety is also involved. Some doctors prescribe a short course of benzodiazepines to help depressed and anxious patients, but this is not supported by NICE guidance. High-potency tranquillisers like alprazolam are [read the full story…]

Daily use of chlorhexidine gel in addition to regular brushing with low fluoride toothpaste did not provide additional reductions in early childhood caries

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Early childhood caries (ECC) remains a challenge for many communities. Chlorhexidine (CHX) is a common oral antiseptic with effective bactericidal activity against mutans streptococci (MS) and early colonisation of the oral cavity by MS has been identified as a risk factor for ECC. The aim of this study was to test whether the daily application [read the full story…]