Derek Richards

Profile photo of Derek Richards
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.

Website

Follow me here –

Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART)- factors affecting success rate

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
caries upper arch

This review of the factors that affect the success rate of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) restorations in children included 47 studies. THe findings suggest that the operator and and type of restoration are significant factors influencing the success.

[read the full story...]

Direct pulp capping in permanent teeth

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
900px-Pulp_cap

This review the outcome of direct pulp capping (DPC) in mature permanent teeth with a cariously exposed pulp and a clinical diagnosis of reversible pulpitis included 14 studies. The findings suggest that direct pulp capping is generally a clinically effective procedure in teeeth with reversible pulpitis.

[read the full story...]

Obstructive sleep apnoea–Effectiveness of different mandibular advancement devices

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
Mandibular advancement device

This review of the the effectiveness of different mandibular advancement devices for obstructive sleep apnoea included 50 RCTS. While the findins suggest that mono-bloc MADs are more effective duo-bloc devices the quality of the available evidence is very low.

[read the full story...]

Intracanal cryotherapy in root canal treatment

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
shutterstock_17046487

This review of the effect of intracanal cryotherapy in reducing postoperative pain after instrumentation or obturation in root canal treatment included 8 RCTs. The findings suggest that suggests that intracanal cryotherapy in the form of cold saline irrigation as the final irrigant significantly reduces pain between 6 and 24 hours after root canal therapy.

[read the full story...]

Oral hygiene for critically ill patients

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
shutterstock_19406029

This Cochrane review updated assessing the impact of oral health measures on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care includes 40 RCTs and suggests that Chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel, as part of oral health measures, probably reduces the incidence of developing VAP.

[read the full story...]

Fluorescence devices for caries detection

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
iStock_000001604217XSmall dental laser

This Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy review of fluorescence-based devices for the detection and diagnosis of enamel caries included 131 studies with 114 datasets from 79 studies contributing to the meta-analyses.

[read the full story...]

Top Dental Elf Blogs: Oct – Dec 2020

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
The Dental Elf

Blogs on Hyposalivation in the elderly, powered toothbrushes for patients undergoing orthodontic treatment and the impact of smoking on the outcomes of non-surgical periodontal treatment were our most popular blogs.

[read the full story...]

Top Dental Elf Blogs: Jul – Sep 2020

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
The Dental Elf

Our most popular blogs in July August and September covered periodontal surgery, Interproximal caries detection and local anaesthesia for inferior alveolar nerve blocks.

[read the full story...]

Top Dental Elf Blogs: Apr – Jun 2020

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
The Dental Elf brings you daily updates of evidence-based dentistry research

Erosive tooth wear and gastro-oesophageal reflux, oral lichen planus and oro-facial manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus were popular blogs in April, May and June of 2020.

[read the full story...]

Top Dental Elf Blogs: Jan – Mar 2020

No Responses »
Profile photo of Derek Richards
Posted by
The Dental Elf

Our most popular blogs from January, February and March 2020 were about the FiCTION trial, local anaesthesia and factors associated with third molar surgical difficulty.

[read the full story...]