What should we be doing for children in our general practices?

This paper reports the findings from a research project named FiCTION (Filling Children's Teeth: Indicated or Not?).Design FiCTION was a multi-centre, parallel-group, patient-randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of three treatment strategies. There were three strategies within the trial: conventional caries removal and restoration plus prevention (C+P); biological sealing-in caries plus prevention (B+P); and prevention alone (PA).

Being a dentist in the pandemic.

Data sources The authors provide no detail as to how the review was undertaken. Therefore the paper does not provide any methodological processes for data extraction. The paper describes the assimilation of available information regarding 2019-nCoV at the time of writing.

General dental practice and improved oral health: is there a win-win for both the professional establishment and government?

General dental practice in the United Kingdom has been in a state of unrest for over two decades, with practitioners having been confronted by two contract changes. The latest contract change of 2006 resulted in much disquiet, and services continue to be piloted in order to develop a contract that satisfies the needs of both government and the profession. Within this context, this paper explores the issues surrounding the present situation.

Long term impact of powered toothbrush on oral health.

Data sources The Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP).Data extraction and synthesis Data were taken from SHIP1 to SHIP3 over an 11 year period. Mixed-effects linear regression models were constructed between the exposure (manual versus powered toothbrush) and outcome variables (probing depths [PD], clinical attachment loss [CAL], caries status DMFS and DFS, tooth loss) adjusting for potential baseline covariates.

Carious lesion activity assessment in clinical practice.

Data sources PubMed database. A manual screening among the references of selected articles. Study selection Original articles, published in English relating to in vivo techniques (concepts /tools) to activity assessment of coronal carious lesions (AACCL).

An audit of smoking behaviours among patients attending two general dental practices in South Wales: an awareness-raising exercise for the dental team and patients.

Aims: This audit aimed to quantify the number of smokers attending two general dental practices. It also aimed to establish the demographic characteristics of these smokers in terms of age, gender and deprivation status, and to raise the awareness of practice staff about smoking cessation.

Methods: Data were collected from consecutive patients (aged over 16 years) attending two general dental practices over a period of one month.

An audit of dental general anaesthetic referral from a general dental practice in South Wales.

Aims: The aim of this audit was to quantify the number of patients that received a dental general anaesthetic (DGA) between 1999 and 2007 following referral from a general dental practice. It also aimed to establish the deprivation status of those referred and to investigate further dental treatment pathways of these patients.

Methods: Data were collected from all patient records held by the practice.

Homeless who accessed a healthy living centre in Swansea, South Wales: an assessment of the impact of oral ill-health.

Aim: To quantify the way that oral diseases affect the lives of homeless and vulnerable people in Swansea, using the short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14).

Method: A convenience sample of people using the services of a healthy living centre for the homeless was surveyed using a questionnaire and the short-form OHIP-14.

Results: One hundred subjects were recruited to the study.

Changes in the balance between dentists, patients and funders in the NHS and their consequences.

This paper explores aspects of professional culture in dentistry that may impact on the delivery of equitable dental services in the future. After 2009, commissioners will have to ration National Health Service budgets for health services and dentistry will compete with other services. Therefore, the delivery of equitable oral health services may be an advantage in the case for dentistry and subsequent funding.

A specialism of primary dental care?

This opinion paper contends that a wide gap exists between the theory and practice of preventive dentistry. The reasons for this lie partly in the lack of recognition given to the potential for general dental practitioners (GDPs) to deliver health-focused care to their community of patients. This lack of recognition begins at undergraduate level and is also found among GDPs themselves.

Determining the size distribution of core-shell spheres and other complex particles by laser diffraction.

The goal of this work is to determine the size distribution of hollow glass spheres by laser diffraction, an experiment which involves measuring angle-dependent scattering of light from particles dispersed in a liquid. The proprietary software supplied with commercial instruments is not strictly applicable to our two-layer, glass-shell, hollow-core spheres because it requires that the particles have spatially homogeneous properties. We therefore developed Fortran code to compute the scattering from core-shell spherical particles.

Oral ill-health and deprivation among patients of a general dental practice in South Wales.

Purpose Of Study: This study aims to establish and report on whether individuals from deprived areas suffer more ill health than adults from areas considered not to be deprived when visiting a general dental practice.

Basic Procedures: Between December 1998 and June 1999 registered dental patients over 18 years of age attending for routine care completed a questionnaire measuring functional, experiential and psychosocial impact of oral ill health. In addition the clinical impact of ill health was established from the patient examination and record card.

The use of geographical information systems in examining variations in sociodemographic profiles of dental practice catchments: a case study of a Swansea practice.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to use a case study approach to illustrate the potential for using geographical information systems (GIS) to examine the provision of dental services in the UK. A major benefit of using GIS to examine sociodemographic profiles of patients on a dental register is to inform policy makers.

Method: We illustrate the advantages of such an approach by using a postcoded list of registered patients for a dental practice in Swansea.