Antibiotics for dental infections – Short or long duration courses?

Many drugs are licensed for use in Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), but it is unclear what works best.

This review comparing short (3–5 days) or longer courses (≥7 days) of antibiotics for the treatment of dental infections in general practice only included one small RCTs. No differences were seen between short an dlong courses but the findings should be interpreted cautiously becaise of the limited data available.

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Metronidazole for treatment of non-periodontal dental infections

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This review of whether metronidazole used as monotherapy or in addition to a β-lactam antibiotic offers any additional benefit over β-lactam monotherapy in non- periodontal dental infections includes 3 RCTs. The findings suggest that metronidazole does not provide superior clinical results compared to β-lactam antibiotics for the treatment of non-periodontal dental infections. However the evidence is limited and of low quality.

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Surgical masks versus N95 respirators

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This review of the effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks for prevention of influenza included 6 RCTs involving 9171 participants. THe findings suggest that use of N95 respirators compared with surgical masks was not associated with a lower risk of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

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Caries management in children. The FiCTION trial

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The FiCTION trail compared 3 caries management strategies for dentinal caries in primary teeth finding no evidence of a difference between the approaches. This emphasises the importance of primary prevention of caries to avoid dental caries althogther.

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Molar incisor hypomineralisation: systemic associations

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This review of the systemic exposures associated with with molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) included 29 observational studies. VEry low quality evidence suggests that maternal illness, psychological stress, caesarean delivery, delivery complications, respiratory diseases, fever and childhood illnesses may be associated with MIH.

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Mandibular angle fractures: 1 or 2 miniplates?

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This review of the use of 1 or 2 miniplates for the treatment of mandibular angle fractures included 13 studies 3 of which were RCTs. The findings suggest fewer complications with single miniplate fixation.

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Orthognathic surgery: antibiotic prophylaxis reduced surgical site infection

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This new Cochrane review identified 11 RCTs and suggests that for those undergoing orthognathic surgery, long term antibiotic prophylaxis decreased the risk of surgical site infection compared with short-term regimens.

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Dental implant failures reduced with prophylactic antibiotic suggests review

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This new review covers similar ground to the 2013 Cochrane review. It includes non-randomised controlled trials, but as with the Cochrane review the findings suggest that antibiotics reduce early implant failure.

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Study suggests an increasing number of Americans are being hospitalised with periapical abscesses

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Periapical abscess is sequelae of the death of the dental pulp often as a result of dental caries or trauma.  It is normally managed in dental practice with root canal treatment or extraction. However, if left untreated it can lead in some circumstances lead to the destruction of bone and the spread of infection to [read the full story…]