Dental screening: a role for hygiene-therapists?

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This study compared the diagnostic accuracy of dental screening by hygiene-therapists with dentists. The results show that they could be used to screen for caries and periodontal disease. This could allow for a change in the traditional model of dental care seen in the UK.

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Electronic Apex Locators may perform better than radiography alone

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When performing root canal treatment determining the position of the apical constriction of the tooth in order to gauge the ‘working length’ of the root canal is an important step. Traditional this has been performed with radiographs although electronic apex locators (EALs) have been available for may years and are becoming increasingly popular. The aim [read the full story…]

Limited evidence available for caries risk assessment systems

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Predicting an individuals risk of caries is considered to be an important element in managing the condition and recommending appropriate care and treatment. A range of methods are currently used, included for example socio-demographic, socio economic, dietary factors, and oral hygiene practices.  The aim of this review was to assess the accuracy and the quality [read the full story…]

Little evidence for the diagnostic accuracy of new caries detection aids

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Caries is one of our commonest diseases and increasing emphasis is being placed on identifying its earliest stages in order to employ effective interventions.   Visual examination and radiographs have been the traditional approaches to caries detection but newer adjunctive methods based on fiber-optics, fluorescence or electrical impedance have been developed and introduced during the past [read the full story…]

Minor salivary gland biopsy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome

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Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is one potential cause of dry mouth.  It is thought to affect 0.5-1% of the population and is more common in females (M/F ratio 1:9).  SS is an autoimmune disease characterised by chronic T- and B-cell infiltration of the salivary glands or lachrymal glands that results in gland dysfunction.   SS has a [read the full story…]

Light activated tooth whitening increases the risk of tooth sensitivity and may not improve the bleaching effect

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Tooth whitening is an increasingly popular cosmetic treatment. In surgery bleaching and dentist-prescribed, home-applied bleaching are the two most common procedures. Light activation using a range of light sources, halogen curing lights, xenon–halogen lights, plasma arcs, light emitting diodes (LEDs), LED plus lasers, and lasers have been used to reduce the bleaching time and decrease [read the full story…]

Limited research about what distinguishes treatable from nontreatable pulpal inflammation in teeth

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Accurate diagnosis of the condition  of the dental pulp  has an important bearing on treatment planning.  The aim of this review was to appraise the diagnostic accuracy of signs/symptoms and tests used to determine the condition of the pulp in teeth affected by deep caries, trauma or other types of injury. The authors searched PubMed, [read the full story…]