Adjunctive chlorhexidine for gingival health in orthodontic patients

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This review of the efficacy of chlorhexidine (CHX) products in maintaining gingival health in orthodontic patients with fixed appliances included 20 RCTs only 1 of which was at low risk of bias. The findings showed a benefcial effect on gingival parameters with CHX mouthwash at 1-3 months but the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

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Mouthwashes, microorganisms and gingivitis in orthodontic patients

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This review of the efficacy of mouthwashes on oral microorganisms and gingivitis in orthodontic patients included 32 RCTs. While the findings suggest short-term benefits with adjunctive mouthwash use the findings should be intertpreted cautiously as only one RCT was at low risk of bias and for almost all outccomes the certainty of evidence was rated as very low to low.

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Is a chewable toothbrush effective in children?

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This review comparing the effectiveness of a chewable toothbrush (CTB) with a manual toothbrush (MTB) in terms of plaque reduction included 7 RCTs. While no significant differences were found between CTB and MTB the availabel studies were small of short duration and of very low certainty.

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Clear aligners v fixed appliances for periodontal health

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This review of periodontal health maintenance and gingival recessions development in patients undergoing an orthodontic treatment with clear aligners (CA) or fixed appliances (FA) included 12 studies. The limited amount and quality of evidence was insufficient to assess whether CA were bettern than FA at maintaining periodontal health.

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Power toothbrushes – Sonic or oscillating-rotating?

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This review of the efficacy of oscillating-rotating power toothbrush compared to high-frequency sonic power toothbrush includes 32 RCTs. The findings show moderate certainty evidence in favour of the oscillating-rotating however the clinical relevance may not be important.

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Mobile applications and behaviour change in orthodontic patients

This RCT looked at whether Mentalization Based Treatment for Adolescents reduced self-harming beahviour

This review of the effectiveness of mobile applications and social media-based interventions in inducing behaviour change among orthodontic patients included 16 RCTs. While the findings suggest some limited beneficial changes in orthodontic patients the interventions are very hetrogeneous and not based on clear behavioural change theory.

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Curcumin as an adjunct to scaling and root planing for chronic periodontitis

Tumeric, curcumin

This review of the effectiveness of oral curcumin products in reducing gingival inflammation and probing pocket depth in adults included 27 RCTs.The findings suggest that curcumin products were as effective as other products. However, a majority of the studies are small and none are at low risk of bias.

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Periodontitis: Locally delivered anti-microbials as an adjunct to surgical periodontal treatment

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This review of the effectiveness of locally delivered adjunctive antibiotic treatment during periodontal surgery on clinical outcomes included 9 RCTs. While the findings suggested that adjunctive locally delivered antibiotics could improve some clinical sutcomes they evidence was limited and of very low certainty.

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Diabetes and periodontal status in children and adolescents

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This review comparing the periodontal status of normal children with those living with diabetes regardless of type included 11 studies. While the findings suggest that children and adolescents with diabetes have poorer periodontal status the quality of the evidence is low.

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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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