Probiotics have been used in the management of a wide range of conditions and have been shown to have a beneficial effect in gastrointestinal disease for example. A potential role in the prevention of caries has been suggested and the aim of this review was to evaluate the caries preventive effect of probiotics. Searches were [read the full story…]
Sadly caries remains a significant public health problem across the world, particularly in children. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of caries treatment and prevention strategies in the Netherlands. The study was conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the effects of two caries prevention strategies compared with regular dental [read the full story…]
The aim of this new Cochrane protocol is to evaluate the effects of methods for acceptance of local anaesthetic in children during dental treatment. As the protocol notes three factors have been considered to influence discomfort during delivery of local anaesthetic: factors related to the patient, equipment factors and aspects that are under control [read the full story…]
Amalgam has been used for filling teeth for around 150 years. Over that time amalgam restoration have been shown to be a predictable, successful and cost effective. Concerns regarding aesthetics and their mercury content together with improvement in tooth-coloured dental resin cements have seen a decline in their use. Recently the Minamata Convention on Mercury [read the full story…]
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) have just launched a new guideline on caries prevention in children. The guideline replaces two existing guidelines; SIGN 47 on preventing dental caries in children at high caries risk and SIGN 83 on prevention and management of dental decay in the pre-school child. The guideline was developed using SIGN [read the full story…]
Despite the improvements in oral health the management of dental caries still presents challenges particularly in children. While some guidelines still recommend complete removal of caries there is growing interest in more conservative approaches. The aim of this study was to compare children’s behaviour and pain perception when approximal dentinal caries lesions in primary molars [read the full story…]
Back in December we highlighted a review by Moynihan and Kelly (Dental Elf – 12th Dec 2013) on the relationship between caries and sugars that was commissioned to inform the development of updated WHO recommendations on sugar. Another review of the relationship between sugar and body weight by Te Morenga et al was also undertaken [read the full story…]
The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare two different white MTA cements as pulpotomy medicaments in human primary teeth, Pro-Root MTA and MTA Angelus. Child patients with deep occlusal carious lesion, which presented potential risk of pulp exposure during complete removal of carious dentin, as determined by clinical and radiographic assessment were [read the full story…]
When I was training formocresol was the standard dressing for primary teeth following pulpotomy . However, it use is now questionable because of potential adverse effects such as potential carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and cytotoxicity. Consequently a range of other materials have been investigated, ferric sulphate, gluatraldehyde preparations , mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), electrosurgery, calcium hydroxide, and laser [read the full story…]
Failure to maintain good oral hygiene during fixed appliance orthodontic treatment can lead to the development of demineralised white lesions (DWLs) around the orthodontic brackets. The incidence of this adverse effect of treatment has bee reported as being between 15-85. A recent Cochrane review by Benson et al (see Dental Elf 27th Jan 2014) found [read the full story…]
