Most popular Dental Elf Blogs July – Sep 2023

Achnahaird beach

Blogs on oil pulling for oral health, stress in patients and dentists during root canal treatment and incremental v bulk fill composite resin restorations were the most popular between July and September.

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Self-adhesive flowable composite resins v flowable composite resin for occlusal cavities in permanent teeth

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This review of the clinical performance of self-adhesive flowable composites and flowable composites for occlusal cavities in permanent teeth included 5 RCTs. . While the review found no significant differences between SAFCs and FCs in terms of retention, secondary caries, marginal discoloration, and postoperative sensitivity outcomes the limited number and quality of the small number of available studies mean the findings should be viewed cautiously.

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Digital v conventional impressions for implant-supported fixed complete arch prostheses

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This review comparing digital scans and conventional impressions for complete arch implant-supported fixed prostheses included 6 RCTs. The findings suggest that digital scans significantly reduce the the time required compared with conventional impressions for complete arch implant-supported prostheses. However, there are only a small number of small studies available with only one of the six included being at low risk of bias.

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Cement-or screw-retained implant-supported prostheses and peri-implant disease

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This review comparing the incidence of peri-implant disease with cement- and screw-retained prostheses included 6 RCTs. The findings suggest no difference in level of peri-implant disease with cement- or screw retained prosthesis. However, the studies are small none of them are at low risk of bias. Consequently the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

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Edentulism in diabetics compared to non-diabetics

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This review of the prevalence of edentulism among diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic people included 7 cross-sectional studies. The findings suggest a higher level of edentulism in diabetic patients but the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

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Flap or flapless surgery for immediate implant placement?

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This review comparing immediate implant placement using flap or flapless surgery included 5 small RCTs involving a total of 140 patients. The findings suggested a benefit for flapless srugery but in addition to being small the studies were short term and 3 of the 5 studies were considered to be at high risk of bias.

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Narrow v regular diameter dental implants for mandibular overdentures

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This review comparing the use of narrow-diameter and regular diameter dental implants for supporting mandibular overdentures included 8 studies reported in 12 publications. While the findings suggest no differences between narrow and regular implants supporting mandibular overdentures the findings should be viewed cautiously as the quality of evidence is limited in quality and quantity and also short-term in nature.

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Tilted implants to support fixed partial dentures

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This review of marginal bone loss and implant survival rate of tilted implants compared with those of axial implants for implant-supported fixed partial dentures (ISFPDs) included 9 studies. The findings suggest no different in survival rates between the two implant types but the possibility of more marginal bone loss with tilted implants.The quality of evidence is low.

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Intraoral scanning v conventional impressions – patient related outcomes

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This review comparing patient-related outcomes of intraoral scanning and conventional impression methods included 13 studies. Nine of the included studies were RCTs and all were considered to be at unclear risk of bias. The findings indicated a patient preference for digital scanning over conventional impression techniques.

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Coronal microleakage prevention after root canal treatment

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This review of the efficiency of orifice barriers in preventing coronal microleakage after root canal treatment included 18 in-vitro studies. The findings suggest the placement of an orifice barrier helped prevent coronal leakage. However the relevance of this to the clinical environment remains to be examined.

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