Oral health self-care behaviours in people with a serious mental illness

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This review of the of oral health self-care behaviours in people with serious mental illness (SMI) included 33 studies. Most of the included studies (18) were cross-sectional and a mjority (20)were considered to be of weak design.

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Interdental cleaning devices with active substances

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This review of the efficacy of interdental cleaning devices (ICDs) used with active substances, as adjuncts to toothbrushing included 7 RCTs. However, none of the available studies was at low risk of bias and all were small. While the findings suggest s benefit from using ICDs with active substances the evidence is of very low certainty so additional high qiality well reported trials are needed.

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Flossing: Before or after brushing?

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This review comparing the clinical performance of flossing before or after toothbrushing included two small RCTs involving a total of 60 patients. The findings suggest no difference with the use of floss before or after toothbrushing however the quality of the evidence is limited.

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Rubber bristles interdental cleaners as an adjunct to toothbrushing

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This review of the efficacy of rubber bristles interdental cleaners (RBIC) as an adjunct to toothbrushing (TB) included 6 RCTs. The findings provide weak to very weak certainty evidence for the use of RBICs for gingivitis and plaque reduction.

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Top Dental Elf Blogs Apr– Jun 2019

The Dental Elf brings you daily updates of evidence-based dentistry research

The Cochrane review of interdental cleaning devices, whether antibiotics are needed for dental implant placement and oral health programmes for people with intellectual difficulties were our most popular blogs of the spring.

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Interdental cleaning devices for prevention and control of caries and periodontal disease

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Thi Cochrane review evaluateingthe effectiveness of interdental cleaning devices used at home, in addition to toothbrushing, compared with toothbrushing alone, for preventing and controlling periodontal diseases, caries, and plaque includes 35 RCTs providing low to very low certainty evidence that floss or interdental brushes in addition to toothbrushing may reduce gingivitis or plaque, or both.

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Interdental cleaning aids

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This network meta-analysis of the comparative efficacy of interproximal oral hygiene aids included 22 RCTs and suggests that interdental brushes and water-jets ranked highest for the reduction of gingival bleeding. Although the quality of the available evidence is limited.

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Periodontitis: risk increased by poor oral hygiene

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50 observational studies were included in this review of the effect of oral hygiene on periodontitis. The data suggests that poor oral hygiene increases the risk of periodontitis by around two- to five-fold compared with good OH. However the quality of the data is considered to be of low quality.

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Which interdental cleaning aids for managing gingivitis?

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A number of reviews have been conducted of interdental cleaning aids. This meta-review brings together 6 reviews and finds only evidence of low quality for interdental brushes, floss, woodsticks and oral irrigators.

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Flossing, scaling and bugs in the blood

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Some of the evidence used to in the formulation of the NICE guidance on antibiotic prophylaxis for invasive dental procedures that we discussed yesterday was the recognition that everyday oral activities cause bacteraemia (Dental Elf  10th May 2011). This new cross-sectional study by Zhang et al looked the bacteraemia caused by flossing compared with scaling [read the full story…]