Anxiety and pain during dental treatment

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35 studies investigating 47 clinical groups were included in this review of the association between dental anxiety and pain during dental treatment. The findings suggest a consistent impact on pain through the entire period of dental treatment.

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Third molar removal: conventional or piezoelectric device for osteotomy?

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Fifteen studies (5 RCTs) were included in this review of piezoelectric surgery for third molar removal. The findings suggest better outcomes with piezoelectric surgery however the limited quality of the available evidence means that the findings should be viewed with caution.

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Pain during orthodontic treatment: non-pharmacological interventions

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14 trials were included in this Cochrane review of non-pharmacological interventions for orthodontic pain. The findings were inconclusive although there is some evidence that low-level laser therapy may help.

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Cryotherapy to reduce pain and swelling after facial surgery

Bariatric surgery and marked weight loss is likely to improve knee complaints but there is a need for high quality studies

This review of postoperative hilothrarpy (cryotherapy) in facial surgery included 6 RCTs none of which were at low risk of bias. The findings suggest that it reduces swelling and pain in the early postoperative period. However more high quality studies from a broader range of researches are needed to confirm the findings.

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Chronic pain and depression: genetic and environmental risks

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Marcus Munafo explores a recent study that uses genetic data and family environmental information to quantify the risk of chronic pain and the contribution of risk variants for major depressive disorder.

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Lasers for caries removal: evidence insufficient to support their use

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This Cochrane review included 9 small RCTs with either a high or unclear risk of bias providing evidence that was insufficient to support the use of laser as an alternative to the drill for caries removal.

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Temporomandibular joint arthrocentesis with hyaluronic acid- evidence limited.

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This review of intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) for temporomandibular disorder only identified 8 small studies of limited quality providing no consensus that HA injections were better than other agents.

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Palatal injections for maxillary extractions: are they needed?

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This review of the use of palatal injections for maxillary extractions included 15 studies. While the findings suggest that they may not be needed further high quality studies are needed to confirm the findings.

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Orthodontic brackets: type unlikely to affect oral hygiene

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12 small studies were included in this review of orthodontic brackets and their effect on pain and oral hygiene. No differences were seen between self-ligating and conventional brackets

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Trigeminal neuralgia: is botulinum toxin effective?

Behavioural signs such as grimacing, guarding, resistance to care, pacing/rocking etc will give clues to the fact that a person with dementia is in pain

Six small RCTs were included in this review. Findings suggest that botulinum toxin type A (BoTN-A) has a positive effect on post treatment pain. Hover the results should be interpreted cautiously as the quality of the evidence is limited and more high quality studies are needed.

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