This new Cochrane review looked at school-based interventions aimed at changing behaviour related to toothbrushing habits and the frequency of consumption of cariogenic food and drink in children between the ages of 4 and 12 years. The Cochrane Oral Health Group’s Trials Register, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) ,Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, [read the full story…]
Early childhood caries remains a significant problem in many parts of the world and has been defined by the American Dental Association as:- the presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries) or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a preschool-age child between birth and 71 months [read the full story…]
The traditional management of caries by the removal of all softened demineralised dentine before a filling is placed is being increasingly challenged. This updated Cochrane review aims to assess the effects of stepwise, partial or no dentinal caries removal compared with complete caries removal for the management of dentinal caries in previously unrestored primary and [read the full story…]
The March issues of the Cochrane Library includes two new protocols relevant to Oral Health. The first protocol :- Arora A, Foster JP, Gillies D, Moxey AJ, Moody G, Curtis B. Breastfeeding for oral health in preschool children (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD010416. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010416. Has the main [read the full story…]
Fissure sealants have been in use since the 1960s and previous reviews have shown them to be effective in reducing caries. This review is the 4th update of the Cochrane review by Ahovuo-Saloranta et al and includes studies up November 2012. The main aim of the review was to compare the effects of different types [read the full story…]
This latest critical summary prepared under the auspices of the ADA Center for Evidence Based Dentistry looks at a 2012 meta-analysis by Kühnisch et al that looks at the retention rates of pit and fissure sealants. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that resin-based sealants have the highest retention rates at 5-years. The appraiser notes [read the full story…]
Worldwide dental caries remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases of childhood. Sadly, in many countries a significant proportion of this decay remains untreated leading to pain, sepsis and occasionally more severe complications. Studies have shown associations between caries and poor growth, low weight gain, missed school and poorer performance. The aim of this [read the full story…]
Yesterday we looked at the management of large carious lesions and today we are considering the other end of the caries process, the detection of the early or non-cavitated carious lesion (NCCLs). With changes in the severity of dental disease in some population there has been more interest in the identification and management of the [read the full story…]
The traditional approach to treatment of dental caries has been complete removal and subsequent restoration. During the past decade this approach has been challenged, based on a greater understanding of the disease process. The focus being on adequate restorations rather than a complete excavation of caries, with particular benefits for the treatment of deep caries. [read the full story…]
There is substantive evidence from systematic reviews for the effectiveness of fluoride varnish (FV) in caries prevention (Marhino et al 2002). The aim of this study (Divaris et al 2012) was to assess whether there were differential effects for FV according to tooth surface and baseline pathology. This was a secondary analysis of a cluster-randomised [read the full story…]
