Mark-Steven Howe

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Mark qualified from Birmingham University in 1988. After 4 years in general practice he joined the Royal Air Force Dental Branch on a Short Service Commission serving in the UK and overseas gaining his Diploma and Membership exams in general dental surgery. On leaving the RAF Mark completed his Fellowship to the Faculty of General Dental Practice (FFGDP) and has recently completed an MSc in Evidence-Based Healthcare at the University of Oxford.  Mark has been a full time general dental practitioner at Broadway Dental Care, Worcestershire since 1998. He is a Fellowship assessor for the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners UK, and examiner at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.

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Dentistry, Diagnostic Test Accuracy (DTA) and the Covid-19 Antibody Test

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Mark-Steven Howe looks at the diagnostic test accuracy of Covid-19 antibody tests in this opinion piece.

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What is the most appropriate gown/apron for preventing Covid-19 contaminated fluids transfer in dental practice?

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Mark-Steven Howe reanalyses a recent Cochrane review on personal protective equipment focusing on the evidence from a primary care rather than secondary care perspective.

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Mouthwash; can it reduce levels of Covid-19 in the mouth?

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This latest rapid review from Mark-Steven Howe looks at the virucidal efficacy of commonly used oral mouthwashes. No high quality evidence was identified. Some demonstrate good virucidal properties but have poor substativity with the benefits being lost within a few minutes.

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How much extra protection does an FFP3 mask offer in the dental surgery?

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This rapid review suggests that in the clinical environment where high volume aspiration and rubber dam is in use during dental AGP procedures there may be no significant additional benefit in wearing an FFP3/FFP2 or surgical mask.

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Root canal obturation: Does apical extent of obturation affect outcome?

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Mark-Steven Howe looks at this review of the association between obturation extent and final treatment outcome of root canal treatment. Twenty two studies were included with 11 contributing to the meta-analysis suggestign that obturation extent may have an effect.

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COX-2 inhibitors for pain management after third molar removal

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Many drugs are licensed for use in Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), but it is unclear what works best.

This review comparing the efficacy of Cox-2 inhibitors with ibuprofen after third molar removal included 12 RCTs suggesting that COX-2 inhibotors and Ibuprofen provide similar pain relief at 6, 8, and 12 h after third molar removal.

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Dental Implants: Survival at sites of previous implant failure

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Mark Steven-Howe takes a look at a systematic review of survival rates of dental implants placed at sites of previous implant failure. Eight retrospective cohorts were included and while good survival rates were reported over 1-5 years the findings need to be interpreted very cautiously as the studies are at high risk of bias.

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Antibiotics as an adjunct to the non-surgical periodontal treatment of smokers

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Mark-Steven Howe looks at a systematic review of the effectiveness of adjunctive antibiotics in smokers undergoing non-surgical periodontal treatment. While a statistical benefit was noted it was not considered to be clinically relevant.

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Dental implant placement into fresh extraction sockets

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Mark-Steven Howe considers this review of dental implants placed into fresh extraction socket. While 30 studies were included in the review he looks closely at the 3 studies with the longest follow up.

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