Derek Richards

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Derek Richards is a specialist in dental public health, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry and Specialist Advisor to the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) Development Team. A former editor of the Evidence-Based Dentistry Journal and chief blogger for the Dental Elf website until December 2023. Derek has been involved with a wide range of evidence-based initiatives both nationally and internationally since 1994. Derek retired from the NHS in 2019 remaining as a part-time senior lecturer at Dundee Dental School until the end of 2023.

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Caries detection methods: How accurate are they?

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This review of the accuracy of different methods for detecting carious lesions in primary and permanent teeth compares visual inspection, radiographs and fluorescence-based detection. 240 studies were included and the findings suggest that visual inspection was adequate for most patients.

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Alveolar ridge preservation techniques

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16 RCTs were included in this Cochrane review update of the effectiveness of techniques for alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) following dental extractions prior to implant placement. The findings suggest that ARP techniques may minimise the overall changes in residual ridge height and width six months after extraction, but the evidence is very uncertain

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Dentigerous cysts and tooth eruption

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This review of factors influencing eruption of teeth associated with dentigerous cysts only included 4 small single-centre retrospective studies providing very low certainty evidence.

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Osteoradionecrosis incidence and the timing of dental extractions

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This review of whether the incidence of osteoradionecrosis differed between patients who have dental extractions before or after radiotherapy (RT) included 24 studies (19 retrospective 5 prospective). While the findings suggest that the incidence is similar if extractions are undertaken before or after RT the quality of the evidence is limited.

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Facial trauma in motorcyclists and helmet use

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This review of whether helmet use and the type of helmet reduce facial fractures in motorcycle accidents included • 26 cross-sectional studies involving 68,594 patients. The findings suggest fewer upper and mid-face fracture in helment wearers.

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Parental presence and children’s dental anxiety

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This review of whether parents’ presence in the room influences children’s behaviour, anxiety and fear during dental treatment included 16 studies. The findings suggest that parents’ presence in the operation room does not influence children’s (up to 12 years old) behaviour, anxiety and fear during dental treatment. However the included studies are all at high risk of bias so the certainty of the evidence is very low.

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Denture adhesives: Are they effective?

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This review of the efficacy of denture adhesives (DAs) for complete dentures included 39 studies ( 23 RCTs and 16 CCTs). None of teh included studies were at low risk of bias with the findings suggesting that Denture adhesives can improve denture retention, bite force and masticatory performance of complete denture wearers.

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Dental Fear in Adults

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This review aiming to estimate the global prevalence of dental fear in adults included 31 observational studies the majority of which were at high risk of bias. The findings suggest an overal prevalence of 15.3 % (95%CI; 10.23 to 21.15%).

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COVID-19 Dental Elf Blogs – 5

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Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus just over a year ago we have published a number of dental blogs relevant to COVID-19. The blogs cover topics such as dental teams’ generic risk of disease, baseline risk of covid-19, asymptomatic patients and the risk of community spread, digital thermometers, mouthwash use, surgical mask types, gown [read the full story…]