Oral health literacy, oral health behaviours and outcomes

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This review of the association of oral health literacy with oral health behaviours and dental treatment related outcomes included 25 studies the majority being cross-sectional in nature. The available evidence is limited and further high quality studies are needed.

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Supervised toothbrushing for children and adolescents

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Four studies were included in this review of supervised toothbrushing in children and adolescents. The evidence identified provides no conclusive evidence. However previous Cochrane reviews have suggested benefits on caries from supervised brushing.

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Motivational Interviewing for adolescent oral health

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This large well-conducted 3-arm cluster RCT compared motivational interviewing(MI) with prevailing health education. Both MI arms of the study were more effective in eliciting positive changes in adolescents’ oral health behaviours and preventing dental caries after 12 months.

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School-based oral health education only has short term impact

The review found that adding family-based interventions to school-based interventions may reduce the onset of smoking by 4-25%.

This review of school-based oral health education included 12 trials and found it was effective in reducing plaque accumulation over a short period. there was no long-term evidence on the effectiveness.

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Toothbrushing: Are three heads better than one?

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This review of the effectiveness of 3-headed toothbrushes included 15 studies describing 18 comparisons. The quality of the available evidence was low an no differences were seen with self-performed brushing but a benefit was suggested for plaque removal for care-dependent individuals.

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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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Toothbrushes: are tapered or end-rounded filaments best?

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This review of the effect of tapered or end-rounded filament toothbrushes on clinical parameters included just 5 RCTs providing inconclusive evidence to recommend one type over another.

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Computer games for oral health education in young children

Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural group-based parenting interventions are effective at improving child conduct problems, parental mental health and parenting skills in the short term, in the parents of children aged 3-12.

This small RCT of a computer game to deliver oral health education in high caries risk children and families was highly satisfactory to users. Improvements in knowledge were demonstrated is the short term > however there was a high drop out rate an further studies are needed to assess change sin other groups and longer term benefits.

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Periodontal treatment: outcomes from long-term conservative management

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In patients with moderate to advanced periodontitis this longitudinal study demonstrated that long-term tooth retention is possible for compliant patients using a non-regenerative treatment concept.

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Oral care for critically ill ventilated patients

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38 RCTs were included in this Cochrane review update of oral health care in ventilated patients. High quality evidence was found to show that chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel reduces the risk of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients from 25% to about 19%.

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