Orthognathic surgery: antibiotic prophylaxis reduced surgical site infection

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This new Cochrane review identified 11 RCTs and suggests that for those undergoing orthognathic surgery, long term antibiotic prophylaxis decreased the risk of surgical site infection compared with short-term regimens.

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Orthodontic retention: trial finds no difference between three methods at 5 years

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The paper reports the finding of a small trial of three type of orthodontic retention 5 years or more post retention and finds no difference. Previously the authors reported their findings after two years of retention again showing no differences.

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Root caries: little evidence available on which to base restorative treatment recommendations

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This systematic review only identified 5 small studies focussed on a limited sub group of the populations at risk of root caries. The available evidence is limited and cannot be used to provide recommendations on restorative treatment for root caries.

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Periodontal health: improved during clear aligner treatment suggests review

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This review looks at one potential side effect of clear aligner treatment, periodontal health. However only 5 small studies of limited quality are available. All of the included studies found that periodontal health improved however because of the limited evidence available the findings should be interpreted with caution.

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Functional orthodontic appliances: effective in short-term suggests review

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This review of functional orthodontic appliances included 10 CCTs and 7 RCTs and found they produced short-term improvements in class II malocclusion. This needs to be considered with a recent Cochrane review of early treatment for children with class II malocclusion that found that it was more effective in reducing the incidence of incisal trauma than providing one course of orthodontic treatment in early adolescence.

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Avascular necrosis of the jaws (BRONJ): risk and incidence low in the UK

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This 2 year long prospective study of new cases of BRONJ presenting at oral surgery, oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery units, and dental hospitals provides a rough estimate of 508–793 new cases/year across the UK.

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Inferior alveolar nerve block: mepivacaine-lidocaine no better than lidocaine alone suggests trial

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This well conducted and reported trial found that there was no difference between 3% mepivacaine & 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine and 2 cartridges of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine in terms of injection pain, onset time, and pulpal anesthetic success for the IAN block.

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Local anaesthetic to reduce pain of dental care under general anaesthesia – evidence unclear

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This Cochrane review included 14 trials of variable quality that could not be combined due to variation in local anaesthetic delivery and outcome measures. So the results from individual studies for pain, bleeding and other adverse effects are uncertain.

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Low-level laser therapy may improve functional outcomes of patients with temporomandibular joint disorders

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This new review of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) includes more trials ( 14) that two earlier reviews of this topic. While no improvements in pain were seen with LLT functional improvements were seen. Although 14 studies were included they only 454 patients have been included in studies to date.

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Maxillofacial trauma: assaults and falls the main causes in Europe

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This prospective year long multi-centre study involving 11European counties provides an interesting overview of the current demographics, causes and characteristics of maxillofacial fractures in these centers.

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