Tools for measuring oral health and orofacial pain in dependent adults

This study is the first of its kind from an RCT perspective which clearly shows that treating major depression in older adults using interventions in primary care settings can extend life

A group of Scottish Specialty Registrars in Special Care Dentistry look at a recent review of available measurement tools for assessing oral health and orofacial pain in dependent adults, which can be used by the non-dental caregivers. Nine tools were identified and despite a lack of comprehensive testing a number demonstrate reliability and validity.

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Oral Health in people with dementia

This study is the first of its kind from an RCT perspective which clearly shows that treating major depression in older adults using interventions in primary care settings can extend life

This review of oral health in older people with dementia included 37 mainly observational studies of limited quality. The findings suggest that oral health was generally poorer in those with dementia.

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Trigeminal neuralgia: is botulinum toxin effective?

Behavioural signs such as grimacing, guarding, resistance to care, pacing/rocking etc will give clues to the fact that a person with dementia is in pain

Six small RCTs were included in this review. Findings suggest that botulinum toxin type A (BoTN-A) has a positive effect on post treatment pain. Hover the results should be interpreted cautiously as the quality of the evidence is limited and more high quality studies are needed.

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Little good evidence currently available to support the effectiveness of antidepressants in the treatment of orofacial pain

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Orofacial pain is a relatively common and is categorized into musculoskeletal; neuropathic; vascular; neurovascular; idiopathic; pain caused by local, distant, or systemic pathology; and psychogenic.  Diagnosis can be challenging when psychosocial factors are present and while antidepressants have been used as a treatment there remains some controversy.  The aim of this review was to assess [read the full story…]