Evidence-based dentistry
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2007
CommentTorn labial frenum in isolation not pathognomonic of physical abuse.
Searches were made for studies using Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Caredata (the social work and social care knowledge base), Child Data (the National Children's Bureau Database), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, Embase, Medline, the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe, the TRIP database (www.tripdatabase.com), Sciences Citation Index, and ISI Proceedings (covers conference papers in all scientific and technical fields). Authors were contacted where necessary. ⋯ Current literature does not support the diagnosis of abuse based on a torn labial frenum in isolation. The intra-oral hard and soft tissue should be examined in all suspected abuse cases, and a dental opinion sought where abnormalities are found.ome of the traditional and normative predictors of successful outcomes.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2007
CommentParacetamol is an effective drug to use for pain following oral surgery.
Studies were identified using the Cochrane trials registers of the Oral Health Group and of the Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Group, along with the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Embase and the Current Controlled Trials Register. Handsearching included several dental journals as well as the bibliographies of relevant clinical trials and review articles for studies outside the journals searched by hand. Authors of the randomised controlled trials (RCT) identified and manufacturers of analgesic pharmaceuticals were contacted in an attempt to identify unpublished or ongoing RCT. No language restriction was applied. ⋯ Paracetamol is an effective drug to use for postoperative pain following oral surgery, and the reporting of adverse events shows it to be a safe drug: the number-needed-to-treat (NNT) to benefit is three for 1000 mg of paracetamol at 6 h and the NNT to harm is 33. It is most effective at a 1000 mg dose, and can be taken at 6-hourly intervals without compromising safety. It could be considered more readily by dentist and patients both as a first-choice analgesic, or to be taken alternately with other analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2006
CommentSeveral therapies may prevent or reduce the severity of oral mucositis associated with cancer treatment.
The Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline and Embase were searched to April 2006. Reference lists from relevant articles were scanned and the authors of eligible studies were contacted to identify trials and obtain additional information. ⋯ Several of the interventions were found to have some benefit at preventing or reducing the severity of mucositis associated with cancer treatment. The strength of the evidence was variable and implications for practice include consideration that benefits may be specific for certain cancer types and treatment. There is a need for well-designed RCT with sufficient numbers of participants to perform subgroup analyses by type of disease and chemotherapeutic agent.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jan 2006
CommentRobust randomised control trials needed for drug treatments for trigeminal neuralgia.
Searches for appropriate studies were made using the following: Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Register, Medline, Embase and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on the Health Sciences) together the Chinese Biomedical Retrieval System, the database of the Chinese Cochrane Centre, conference paper databases and checked bibliographies. 10 Chinese journals were searched by hand. ⋯ Trials of non-antiepileptic drugs for treating trigeminal neuralgia have all been limited by poor methodological quality or poor reporting. There is insufficient evidence from randomised clinical trials to show significant benefit from non-antiepileptic drugs for trigeminal neuralgia.