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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Orthodontic bracket systems: Is adhesive precoating better than operator coated?

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This review assessing whether adhesive precoated orthodontic brackets are more efficient than operator-coated brackets included 5 RCTs find no differences in failure rate between the two systems.

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Shortened dental arch: impact of treatment on oral health related quality of life

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This study provideds the 10-years outcome of the effect of molar replacement by partial removable dental prostheses (PRDP) or with restored shortened dental arches (SDA) on oral health-related quality of life.

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Mouth and throat cancer: evidence for best surgical approaches uncertain

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Bariatric surgery and marked weight loss is likely to improve knee complaints but there is a need for high quality studies

12 RCTs were included in this Cochrane review update of surgical approches for the management of oral and pharyngeal cancer. The certaintly of the evidence was very low as there were limited numbers of studies for each comparison.

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Routine scale and polish for periodontal health

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Two UK primary care-based trials were included in this Cochrane review update of routine scale and polish. They provide high certainty evidence of litte or no difference between 6- & 12-monthly scale and polish for adult regular attenders without severe periodontitis.

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Tooth whitening with home-based bleaching products

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This Cochrane review update of the effects of home-based tooth whitening products dispensed by a dentist or over-the-counter included 71 RCTs. However, most of thetrials were small single studies of interventions of highly variable nature providing very low-certainty evidence over short time periods to support the effectiveness of home-based chemically-induced whitening.

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Sedation for children undergoing dental treatment

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This Cochrane review update of the efficacy and relative efficacy of conscious sedation agents and dosages for behaviour management in paediatric dentistry includes 50RCTs providing some moderate-certainty evidence that oral midazolam is an effective sedative agent for children undergoing dental treatment.

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Top Dental Elf Blogs: Sep – Dec 2018

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The National Elf Service aims to close the gap between research and practice.

If this your idea of fun, do drop us a line.

Between September and December 2018 our most popular blogs considered guidelines for non-restorative options for caries management , orthodontic management of the developing dentition and aligners for orthodontic treatment.

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Top Dental Elf Blogs: May – Aug 2018

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The elves have been mining the archive for research blogs to support CQC's recommendations on high-quality adult social care services and support.

Popular Dental Elf blogs in May-Jun 2018 include; tooth whitening; oral surgery and anticoagulants, anxiety management in children using CBT and oral lichen planus

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Top Dental Elf Blogs: Jan – Apr 2018

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If this your idea of fun, do drop us a line.

Between January and April 2018 our most popular blogs considered restorations in primary teeth,digital impressions, root canal irrigants and fissure sealants.

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Mandibular advancement devices in obstructive sleep apnoea: side effects

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21 studies mainly retrospective studies were included in this review of the dental and skeletal effects of mandibular advancement devices in treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea. while the findings suggest a number of potential side effects the quality of the available evidence in low.

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