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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Denture stomatitis: Is microwave disinfection effective?

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This review of the effectiveness of removable complete denture disinfection using microwaves for the treatment of denture stomatitis included 3 small RCTs. While the findings suggest that microwave may be effective the evidence is of low certainty so additional high quality well reported studies are needed.

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Caries prevention in children: Fluoride varnishes or sealants?

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11 RCTs were included in this Cochrane review which looked at the relative effectiveness of fissure sealants compared with fluoride varnishes for the prevention of caries in the occlusal surfaces of permanent teeth.

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Powered toothbrushes for patients undergoing fixed orthodontic appliance treatment?

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This review of the effect of powered and manual toothbrushes on oral health during fixed applinace orthodontic treatment included 7 RCTs. The findings suggest no diference between the toothbrush types. However the quality of the evidence is low and the studies are of short duration.

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Chlorhexidine chip as adjunct to scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis

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This review of sub-gingival chlorhexidine chips as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis included 15 RCTs involving 620 patients in total. Findings suggest an additional improvement with adjunctive use of chlorhexidine chips.

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Bruxism: Are botulinum toxin injections effective in management?

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The review of the use of botulinum toxin type A injections in the management of primary bruxism in adults included 10 studies. Only 6 of the included studies were RCTs and the studies were generally small are very hetrogeneous so additional well designed and conducted RCTs are needed.

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Botulinum toxin and idiopathic dentoalveolar pain

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This review of the use of botulinum toxin (BONT-A) for pain-relief in patients with persistent idiopathic dentoalveolar pain included just 3 small uncontrolled studies providing a very limited amounh of very low quality evidence.

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Orthodontic treatment: Does it take longer in adult patients?

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This review comparing the duration of fixed orthodontic treatment between adults and adolescents included 11 studies the majority of which were retrospective. Meta-analyses indicated no statisticall or clinical differences in duration although the quality of the available evidence was low to very low.

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Hyposalivation: Prevalence in the elderly

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13 studies involving a total of 3885 patients were included in this review of the prevalence of hyposalivation in individuals aged ≥ 60 years. The findings suggest an overall prevalence of 33.4% (95%CI; 23.9- 43.6%).

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Dental check-ups: How often should you go?

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This Cochrane review update of the optimal recall interval of dental check-up for oral health in a primary care setting included 2 RCTs. The findings show little to no difference between six‐monthly and risk‐based check‐ups in tooth decay, gum disease and quality of life after four years.

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Aerosol generating procedures: minimising production during dental procedures

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This Cochrane rapid review of the effectiveness of methods used during dental treatment procedures to minimize aerosol production and reduce or neutralize contamination in aerosols. While the studies suggest a reduction in the levels of bacterial contamination the quality of the studies means the evidence is of low certainty.

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