High fluoride toothpaste for arresting and preventing root caries

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This randomised trial comparing 5000ppm fluoride tootpaste v 1450ppm paste in adults aged 60 and above demonstrated fewer new root canal lesions in the 5000ppm group at 2 years.

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Review of apps and other digital technology to assess cognition in older adults

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Sarah Gregory writes her debut elf blog on a clinical review in the Evidence-Based Mental Health journal about digital technologies for the assessment of cognition.

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Lesson observations have no impact on Maths or English GCSE scores

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Pooky Knightsmith looks at the Education Endowment Foundation report on Teacher Observation, which concludes that structured lesson observation programmes have no benefits above existing programmes of peer observation.

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Young people with autism suffer poorer sleep quality than their peers

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A group of UCL Masters students summarise a systematic review and meta-analysis of subjective and objective studies, which explores sleep problems in young people with autism spectrum disorders.

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Third molars: Distal caries development in adjacent second molars

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This review of the prevalence of distal surface caries in second permanent molars associated with retained third molars included 11 mainly retrospective observational studies findins a pooled prevalence of 23% (95% CI; 2% to 44%).

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Pulpotomy for permanent teeth with irreversible pulpitis?

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This review of success rates of coronal pulpotomy in carious teeth with signs and symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis included 8 studies only one of which was a RCT. The data suggest this this procedure may be an alternative to root canal treatment.

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Can a ‘personalised psychosocial toolbox’ help people reduce ‘on-top’ drug use during opioid substitution treatment?

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Vicky Carlisle summarises a promising recent RCT on the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an adjunctive personalised psychosocial intervention in treatment-resistant maintenance opioid agonist therapy.

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Orthodontic bonding: Direct or indirect?

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This review of direct and indirect bonding techniques for orthodontic backet placement included 8 small RCTs of limited quality suggesting no significant difference in bracket placement accuracy, oral hygiene status and bond failure rate.

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Prevalence of comorbid personality disorder and alcohol use disorder

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People diagnosed with “personality disorders” are likely to also experience alcohol problems.

Dean Connolly summarises a recent systematic review that confirms the very high prevalence of comorbid personality disorders and alcohol use disorders.

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Silver diamine fluoride for caries management?

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This umbrella review of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) for the management of carious lesions in children and adults included 11 systematic reviews reporting on 30 unique primary studies. A consistent and growing body of research supports supports SDF’s effectiveness for arresting coronal carious lesions in the primary dentition and arresting and preventing root carious lesions in older adults.

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