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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Dental implants: Long or short with bone augmentation in the posterior jaw?

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This review comparing outcomes between short (5-8 mm) and long implants (≥10 mm) with bone augmentation in the posterior jaw included 10 RCTs . The findings suggest no differences in outcomes at 1 year.

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Clear aligner orthodontic treatment

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This review assessing the predictability of clear aligners and treatment outcomes of clear aligner therapy compared with fixed appliance therapy included 7 small studies of limited quality.

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Osteoradionecrosis of the jaws: Prevention in adult patients with head and neck cancer

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This Cochrane review of interventions for preventing osteoradionecrosis of the jaws in adults with head and neck cancer undergoing curative or adjuvant (i.e. non-palliative) radiotherapy included 4 RCTs. The limited quality of the available studies means evidence regarding the interventions evaluated in this review is uncertain.

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White spot lesions: Topical fluoride for prevention during fixed orthodontic treatment

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This Cochrane review update evaluates whether topical fluoride reduces the proportion of orthodontic patients with new demineralised lesions (white spot lesions). In included 10 studies finding some low certainty evidence that some topical fluorides reduced white spot lesions.

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Early childhood caries: Preventive interventions for pregnant and nursing mothers and other primary caregivers

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This Cochrane review asessing interventions with pregnant women, new mothers or other primary caregivers of infants in the first year of life for preventing early childhood caries included 17 RCTs .

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Orthodontic retainers: Bond lower retainers to all anterior teeth or only canines?

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This review evaluating the difference in stability between lower fixed retainers bonded on all six anterior teeth and those bonded only to the canines included 5 studies. Only 2 of the studies were RCTs with finding suggesting better outcomes with bonding to all anterior teeth but the quality of the evidence is low.

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Gag reflex management during dental treatment

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This update of a Cochrane review of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the management of gagging in people undergoing dental treatment found very low-certainty evidence from four trials that was insufficient to conclude if there is any benefit of acupuncture, acupressure or laser at P6 point in reducing gagging and allowing successful completion of dental procedures.

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Smoking cessation and tooth loss

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This review provides strong evidence for quitting smoking and reducing your risk of dementia.

This review assessing whether smoking cessation reduced the risk of tooth loss included 14 cross-sectional and 7 longitudinal studies suggestign that the risk of tooth loss in former smokers is comparable to that of never smokers

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Mesenchymal stem cells in periodontal regeneration?

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This review evaluating the potential efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells in periodontal regeneration included 15 small studies of very low quality. Additional high quality RCTs are neeeded to assess effectiveness before clinicial use.

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Articaine: Is it the best local anaesthetic for teeth with irreversible pulpitis undergoing root canal treatment?

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5 systematic reviews were included in this umbrella review of whether articaine or lidocaine is the most appropriate local anaesthetic solution for teeth with irreversible pulpitis undergoing root canal treatment.

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