British dental journal
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British dental journal · Oct 2014
Reduction in unstimulated salivary flow rate in burning mouth syndrome.
Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic condition of burning of the tongue and oral mucosa. It is often accompanied with complaints of xerostomia, although it is unknown whether the dryness is a sensory change similar to the burning sensation or due to hyposalivation. To determine whether there is change in salivary flow rate, whole salivary flows were measured in BMS patients. ⋯ BMS patients have statistically significant decreased unstimulated salivary flow rate with non-statistically significant decreased stimulated flow rate. Salivary flow rates in BMS patients are decreased further by medication usage whose side effects include dry mouth. This suggests that hyposalivation may play a role in causing dry mouth in BMS, which may respond to treatment with a sialogogue.
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British dental journal · Oct 2014
Preventing wrong tooth extraction: experience in development and implementation of an outpatient safety checklist.
Extraction of the wrong tooth or teeth is a serious and avoidable clinical error causing harm to the patient. All NHS Trusts in England are required to use a surgical safety checklist in operating theatres to prevent incorrect site surgery and ensure safe management of patients. However, the majority of patients have dental extractions and other oral surgical procedures undertaken on an outpatient basis and these patients are also at risk of having an incorrect site surgical procedure such as a wrong tooth extraction. We describe our experience in developing, introducing and refining a surgical safety checklist for outpatient oral surgery along with the key strategic actions needed to ensure effective cultural change and optimum patient safety in the outpatient setting.
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British dental journal · Aug 2014
Pre- and post-operative management of dental implant placement. Part 1: management of post-operative pain.
Although dental implant placements have high success rates and a low incidence of morbidity, post-operative pain and complications with the healing process have been reported. There is little guidance available regarding optimal pre- and post-operative management of dental implant placement. This first paper discusses the mechanisms of pain associated with dental implant placement and offers guidance to clinicians on optimal pre- and post-operative pain management regimes. The second paper aims to discuss pre- and post-operative means of reducing the risk of early healing complications.
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British dental journal · Apr 2014
ReviewIbuprofen and/or paracetamol (acetaminophen) for pain relief after surgical removal of lower wisdom teeth, a Cochrane systematic review.
This paper compares the beneficial and harmful effects of paracetamol, ibuprofen and the novel combination of both in a single tablet for pain relief following the surgical removal of lower wisdom teeth. In this systematic review only randomised controlled double-blinded clinical trials were included. We calculated the proportion of patients with at least 50% pain relief at 2 and 6 hours post dosing, along with the proportion of participants using rescue medication at 6 and 8 hours. ⋯ For the combined drug, the risk ratio for at least 50% maximum pain relief over 6 hours is 1.77 (95% CI 1.32 to 2.39) based on total pain relief (TOTPAR) data. There is high quality evidence that ibuprofen is superior to paracetamol. The novel combination drug shows encouraging results when compared to the single drugs (based on two trials).
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British dental journal · Apr 2014
'I felt weird and wobbly.' Child-reported impacts associated with a dental general anaesthetic.
This qualitative study sought to obtain children's accounts of having dental extractions under general anaesthesia (GA). The aim was to gain greater understanding of the physical and psychological impacts from a child's perspective. ⋯ These accounts have implications for improving patient experiences and outcomes throughout the dental GA care pathway. A review of pre-operative fasting protocols should be a priority.