Evidence-based dentistry
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2010
CommentTreating periodontal disease may improve metabolic control in diabetics.
The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, ZETOC, ISIWeb of Knowledge and LILACS databases were searched together with hand searches of the journals Annals of Periodontology (1996 to 2003) and Periodontology 2000 (1993 to 2003).There were no language restrictions. ⋯ There is some evidence of improvement in metabolic control in people with diabetes, after treating periodontal disease. There are few studies available and individually these lacked the power to detect a significant effect. Most of the participants in the study had poorly controlled type 2 DM and there was little data from randomised trials on the effects on people with type 1 DM. Improving periodontal health is an important objective in itself. However, in order to understand the potential of this treatment to improve glycaemic control among people with diabetes, larger, carefully conducted and reported studies are needed.
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Critical appraisal is one of the key skills of evidence-based practice and is now increasingly being taught in dental schools. Here we outline the key principles of appraising randomised controlled trials (RCT).
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2009
CommentSedation or general anaesthesia for treating anxious children.
Relevant literature was selected following searches using the following: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Embase (OVID), System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, ISI Web of Science; and searches were made by hand of: Journal of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Anaesthesia, British Dental Journal, British Journal of Anaesthesia, Dental Update, International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, Journal of American Dental Association, Journal of Dentistry for Children and Pediatric Dentistry. ⋯ RCT that compare the use of dental general anaesthesia with sedation to quantify differences such as morbidity and cost are required.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2009
CommentVitamin B12 for the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. ⋯ Vitamin B12 treatment, which is simple, inexpensive and low-risk, seems to be effective for patients suffering from RAS, regardless of the serum vitamin B12 level.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2008
CommentHandsearching still a valuable element of the systematic review.
The Cochrane Methodology Register, Medline, Embase, AMED, Biosis, Cinahl, LISA, and Psycinfo were consulted along with researchers who may have carried out relevant studies. ⋯ Hand searching is still valuable in identifying randomised trials for inclusion in systematic reviews of healthcare, particularly trials reported as abstracts or letters, those published in languages other than English, along with all reports published in journals not indexed in electronic databases. Where time and resources are limited, however, searching an electronic database using a complex search (or the Cochrane HSSS) will identify the majority of trials published as full reports in English language journals, provided, of course, that the relevant journals have been indexed in the database.