Cochrane Oral Health Newsletter

News and systematic reviews from Cochrane Oral Health

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Trusted evidence. Informed decisions. Better health.

Winter 2017

This quarter has been busy at Cochrane Oral Health. We have lots of new publications to share, and some news on how you can join Cochrane's new membership scheme. Keep in touch in between newsletters by following us on Facebook and Twitter!

News

Join Cochrane!

The Cochrane Membership Scheme has been launched, giving you the chance to join Cochrane. Mark Wilson (Cochrane's Chief Executive) says: "It will make it easier than ever before for anyone from anywhere in the world to become a part of our global community of supporters.The Cochrane Membership scheme will enable us to grow our collaboration, attracting many new people with a wider range of experience and skills into our work, and allowing us to recognize their contributions and sustain our global activities for better health outcomes."

To find out more, visit the Cochrane membership pages.

Interactive learning

Cochrane has now launched 9 modules of online learning in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews. It provides over 10 hours of self-directed learning on the complete systematic review process for both new and experienced review authors. Read more.

Cochrane Incentive Award

In October, we were delighted to be presented with a National Institute of Health Research Cochrane Incentive Scheme Award to progress our review: Mechanical interdental cleaning for preventing and controlling periodontal diseases and dental caries. This new review will update and combine two previous reviews on flossing and interdental brushes, as well as reviewing other interdental cleaning techniques.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week

13-19 November was World Antibiotic Awareness Week, and Cochrane got involved in the campaign to combat global antibiotic resistance. We put together a special blog post which summarised Cochrane Oral Health's work on the use of antibiotics in dentistry. Read more.

You can sign up for our blog via email to get regular updates on our latest publications. Visit the blog.

New collaborative website launched by Cochrane review groups at the University of Manchester

The University of Manchester hosts three Cochrane review groups. Along with Cochrane Oral Health, Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma and Cochrane Wounds are based within the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. The groups have got together to create a new website, with the aim of promoting key successes, publication highlights and the latest updates. Check out the website here. You can also follow a newly created Twitter account to get updates: follow @UoMCochrane.

Catch up with the Global Evidence Summit

The first ever Global Evidence Summit took place in Cape Town in September. You can now catch up with all of the plenary sessions online here. There is a lot more news from the summit on this website, including a storify, blog posts, and some photos of the event.

Meet the editors!

This quarter, we have interviews with Cochrane Oral Health editors Thomas Lamont, Fang Hua and Paul Brocklehurst on our website. Find out more about their clinical interests, challenges and influences.

Congratulations to our editors Dr. Philip Riley and Professor Sumanth Kumbargere Nagraj!

Two of our editorial team are celebrating fantastic achievements this quarter. Cochrane Oral Health's Scientific Editor Phil Riley has successfully completed his PhD, and you can see the results of his endeavours on the Cochrane Library, in three reviews looking at the oral side effects of cancer treatment.

Our editor Professor Sumanth Kumbargere Nagraj, who is based in Malaysia, has gained a distinction in his MSc in Evidence Based Healthcare, from University College London. He has also been nominated for the Dean's list. Well done to both our editors!

Christmas closure dates for the Editorial Base

The Cochrane Oral Health Editorial Base will close at 5pm on Friday 22 December for the Christmas vacation, and will reopen at 9am on Wednesday 3 January.

Season's greetings to all of our authors, editors, contributors and followers! We wish all of you a very happy 2018.

New and updated publications on the Cochrane Library

New review: School dental screening programmes for oral health

School dental screening refers to visual inspection of children’s oral cavity in a school setting followed by making parents aware of their child’s current oral health status and treatment needs. Screening at school intends to identify children at an earlier stage than symptomatic disease presentation, hence prompting preventive and therapeutic oral health care for the children. This review evaluates the effectiveness of school dental screening in improving oral health status. Read more.

New review: Pharmacological interventions for pain relief during orthodontic treatment

32 randomised controlled trials are included in this new review, looking at whether painkillers such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) and ibuprofen can relive the pain and discomfort often experienced by people undergoing orthodontic treatment. Read more.

New review: Interventions for preventing oral mucositis in patients with cancer receiving treatment: cytokines and growth factors

This is a new review, authored by members of the Cochrane Oral Health editorial team. It considers 35 randomised controlled trials on the topic of using cytokines and growth factors for preventing the mouth soreness and ulcers that can be a side effect of cancer treatment. Read more.

New review: Fluoride supplementation (with tablets, drops, lozenges or chewing gum) in pregnant women for preventing dental caries in the primary teeth of their children

This new review looks at whether pregnant women should take fluoride supplements to prevent their children developing dental caries. Only one study was found, with 1400 participants. It found that there was no significant difference between the group taking fluoride tablets and the group taking a placebo. Read more.

New review: Interventions for managing medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a severe adverse reaction experienced by some individuals to certain medicines commonly used in the treatment of cancer and osteoporosis (e.g. bisphosphonates, denosumab and antiangiogenic agents) and involves the progressive destruction of bone in the mandible or maxilla. This new review looks at how it might be prevented, and looks at the evidence on how to treat it if it does develop. Read more.

New review: Metal-free materials for fixed prosthodontic restorations

This new review includes 9 randomised controlled trials. It aims to assess the effects of metal-free materials for prosthodontic restorations compared to metal-ceramic or other conventional all-metal materials. Read more.

Review update: Orthodontic treatment for deep bite and retroclined upper front teeth in children

A Class II division 2 malocclusion is characterised by upper front teeth that are retroclined (tilted toward the roof of the mouth) and an increased overbite (deep overbite), which can cause oral problems and may affect appearance. This updated review looked for the evidence on treatments, but found that there were no randomised controlled trials on the topic. Read more.

Review update: Periodontal therapy for the management of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic periodontitis

We published this review update on the Cochrane Library in November. Only one randomised controlled trial was found, looking at whether periodontal therapy can prevent the recurrence of cardiovascular disease in the long term in patients with chronic periodontitis. Read more.

Review update: Interventions for managing taste disturbances

This review update focuses on interventions for the management of patients with taste disturbances. It reviews the evidence from 10 randomised controlled trials, and concludes that zinc supplements and acupuncture show promising results, but more high quality studies are needed. Read more.

Review update: Resorbable versus titanium plates for orthognathic surgery

This publication updates the previous review, published in 2007. Titanium plates are considered the "gold standard" in terms of orthognathic surgery, but surgeons are starting to use resorbable (biodegradable) plates. Only two low quality trials comparing effectiveness were found, the evidence is insufficient to determine which type of plate is superior. Read more.

New protocol: Interventions for promoting the eruption of palatally displaced canine teeth, without the need for surgical exposure, in children aged 9-14 years

This new review will assess the effects any interceptive interventions (including the extraction of primary teeth) on the eruption of a palatally displaced permanent canine in children aged 9-14 years old. Read more.

New protocol: Occlusal interventions for managing temporomandibular disorders

This is a protocol for a Cochrane review which will examine the effects of occlusal interventions in people diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorders. It will compare occlusal internations to other interventions or no treatment for reduction in joint pain, muscle pain, quality of life and discomfort. Read more.

Translations

This quarter, our reviews have been translated into Chinese, German, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and Croatian. Find out more on our September, October and November translations pages!

Events

8th International Conference on Methodological Issues in Oral Health Research

There's still time to register for this conference, which will take place in Hong Kong from 9-11 May, 2018. Cochrane Oral Health Editor May Wong is part of the organization committee, and she will be presenting a workshop. Co-ordinating Editor Helen Worthington and Editor Tanya Walsh will also be in attendance and presenting. Find out more.

Editor training

Are you an editor with Cochrane Oral Health? Cochrane Learning Live presents a free webinar on common statistical errors in Cochrane reviews, and how to address these from an editor's point of view. It takes place on 16 January 2018 at 9am UTC. To sign up, visit the Cochrane Learning Live website.

Upcoming training opportunities

Practical issues in producing network meta-analyses for HTAs
York, UK, 20-21 February 2018

Introduction to systematic reviews in health
Southampton, UK, 6 March 2018, 7 March 2018

Introduction to patient-reported outcomes (PROMs)
York, UK, 7 March 2018

Introduction to systematic reviews: basic concepts and Cochrane tools workshop
Uppsala, Sweden, 12 March 2018

Systematic reviews in quantitative and/or qualitative evidence 2018 (SR2018) workshop
Leuven, Belgium, 28-30 March 2018

Webinars

Cochrane Learning Live presents the following webinar which you can join online - sign up is free of charge.

Summary of findings tables in network meta-analysis (NMA)
6 February 2018 - 2pm UTC

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