Alveolar osteitis – local management interventions

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This Cochrane review update looked at local interventions used for the prevention and treatment of alveolar osteitis (dry socket) following tooth extraction. 49 RCTs were included providing moderate certainty evidence for chlorhexidine rinses and gel for probably reduction in dry sockets.

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Pre-treatment mouthwash to reduce patient to dentist infections

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This Cochrane review of the effects of preprocedural mouth rinses used in dental clinics to minimise incidence of infection in dental healthcare providers included 17 RCTs. The studies measured only reduction in level of bacterial contamination in aerosols with no studies evaluating viral or fungal contamination.The evidence was of low or very low certainty.

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Enamel demineralisation during multi-bracketed fixed orthodontic treatment

iStock_000002551343XSmall colourful braces on teeth

This overview of systematic reviews of evidence for the prevention of enamel demineralization during fixed appliance orthodontic treatment included 29 reviews. Most of the reviews were considered to have methodological issues with the findings suggesting that professional fluorides, sealants, reminders, and lasers might be useful interventions to prevent enamel demineralization.

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Oral health interventions in children and adolescents with special needs

Down Syndrome

Carly Ross takes a look at this review of different oral health education and promotion interventions for children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Eighteen studies were included but they mainly of very low to low certainty.

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Interdental cleaning devices with active substances

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This review of the efficacy of interdental cleaning devices (ICDs) used with active substances, as adjuncts to toothbrushing included 7 RCTs. However, none of the available studies was at low risk of bias and all were small. While the findings suggest s benefit from using ICDs with active substances the evidence is of very low certainty so additional high qiality well reported trials are needed.

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Ventilator-associated pneumonia: Does toothbrushing with chlorhexidine reduce risk?

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This review of the effect of toothbrushing and chlorhexidine on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients on mechanical ventilation included 7 RCTs. The findings showed that toothbrushing and chlorhexidine reduced VAP,length of stay and duration of ventilation. However the findings should be interpreted cautiously because of study quality.

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Alveolar osteitis: Are warm saline mouthwashes effective for prevention?

Unequal measures

This review of the effectiveness of warm saltwater mouthwashes in preventing incidence of dry socket following tooth extraction included 8 RCTs. Only one of the included studies was considered to be at low risk of bias with the findings indicting that saltwater was more effective than no moutwash but less effective than chlorhexidine.

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Curcumin mouthwashes for plaque and gingivitis

Tumeric, curcumin

This review of the efficacy of curcumin mouthwash on plaque and gingivitis in comparison with chlorhexidine included 6 RCTs. While the findings suggest that curcumin mouthwashes have promising anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis properties 5 of the 6 studies were at high risk of bias.

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Oral hygiene for critically ill patients

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This Cochrane review updated assessing the impact of oral health measures on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care includes 40 RCTs and suggests that Chlorhexidine mouthwash or gel, as part of oral health measures, probably reduces the incidence of developing VAP.

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Chlorhexidine chip as adjunct to scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis

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This review of sub-gingival chlorhexidine chips as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis included 15 RCTs involving 620 patients in total. Findings suggest an additional improvement with adjunctive use of chlorhexidine chips.

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