Clinical trial of three 10% carbamide peroxide bleaching products.
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BACKGROUND: A profusion of commercial bleaching systems exists on the market today, but there are few clinical comparisons of these systems. METHODS: In this study, three different commercial 10% carbamide peroxide bleaching systems were used by 24 patients in an overnight protocol for two weeks. Each patient used two of the bleaching products simultaneously in a side-by-side comparison. RESULTS: The mean onset of tooth whitening was 2.4 +/- 1.7 days. Tooth sensitivity was the most frequent side effect, as 64% of the patients reported tooth sensitivity occurring after 4.8 +/- 4.1 days and lasting for 5.0 +/- 3.8 days. Although intrapatient differences were recorded for the three commercial 10% carbamide peroxide bleaching systems by the patients, there were no statistical differences in the time of onset of subjective tooth whitening and the onset, frequency and duration of tooth sensitivity among the three commercial bleaching systems when compared pairwise or independently (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Selection of which bleaching product to use should be based on the concentration of the active ingredient, the viscosity of the product and other marketing features. Further research is needed to investigate the causes of tooth sensitivity and methods to reduce its severity and frequency. (+info)
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of homoeopathic 'proving' for Belladonna C30.
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Homoeopathic drug pictures are developed by recording the symptomatic effects of homoeopathic remedies given to healthy volunteers (a 'proving'). In a double-blind randomized controlled trial we tested the hypothesis that individuals using an infinitesimal dilution of Belladonna (thirtieth potency, C30) would record more true symptoms, on a questionnaire that contained both true and false Belladonna proving symptoms, than those receiving placebo. 60 volunteers entered the study and 47 completed data collection. We were unable to distinguish between Belladonna C30 and placebo using our primary outcome measure. For the secondary outcome measure we analysed the number of individuals who proved to the remedy according to our predefined criteria: 4 out of 19 proved in the Belladonna C30 group and 1 out of 27 in the placebo group (difference not statistically significant). This pilot study does not demonstrate a clear proving reaction for Belladonna C30 versus placebo, but indicates how the question might be further investigated. (+info)
Change in pain threshold by meperidine, naproxen sodium, and acetaminophen as determined by electric pulp testing.
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The purpose of this study was to compare changes in pain threshold caused by meperidine, naproxen sodium, acetaminophen, and placebo. The change in pain threshold was measured by electric pulp testing. Acetaminophen elevated the pain threshold statistically significantly. Clinically, however, the superiority of acetaminophen is questionable. No elevation of the pain threshold occurred with narcotic drugs or with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: our research shows that the electric pulp tests of patients who have taken these drugs preoperatively will have results similar to those of patients who have taken no drugs. We question the philosophy of administering these drugs for change in pain threshold at the levels used here preoperatively. (+info)
Dental injury models: experimental tools for understanding neuroinflammatory interactions and polymodal nociceptor functions.
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Recent research has shown that peripheral mechanisms of pain are much more complex than previously thought, and they differ for acutely injured normal tissues compared with chronic inflammation or neuropathic (nerve injury) pain. The purpose of the present review is to describe uses of dental injury models as experimental tools for understanding the normal functions of polymodal nociceptive nerves in healthy tissues, their neuroinflammatory interactions, and their roles in healing. A brief review of normal dental innervation and its interactions with healthy pulp tissue will be presented first, as a framework for understanding the changes that occur after injury. Then, the different types of dental injury that allow gradation of the extent of tissue damage will be described, along with the degree and duration of inflammation, the types of reactions in the trigeminal ganglion and brainstem, and the type of healing. The dental injury models have some unique features compared with neuroinflammation paradigms that affect other peripheral tissues such as skin, viscera, and joints. Peripheral inflammation models can all be contrasted to nerve injury studies that produce a different kind of neuroplasticity and neuropathic pain. Each of these models provides different insights about the normal and pathologic functions of peripheral nerve fibers and their effects on tissue homeostasis, inflammation, and wound healing. The physical confinement of dental pulp and its innervation within the tooth, the high incidence of polymodal A-delta and C-fibers in pulp and dentin, and the somatotopic organization of the trigeminal ganglion provide some special advantages for experimental design when dental injury models are used for the study of neuroinflammatory interactions. (+info)
The impact of oral health on people in the UK in 1998.
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Knowledge of the extent of dental disease gives a clinical indication of the experience of dental problems but it does not necessarily reflect the problems that people experience as a result of their dentition. It is becoming increasingly appreciated that the way a disease affects people's lives is just as important as epidemiological measures of its prevalence or incidence. The 1998 Adult Dental Health survey is the first of the decennial series of UK adult dental health surveys to use and report a measure of the self-perceived impact on people of the dental and periodontal diseases and other oral conditions. Over half (51%) of dentate adults said they had been affected in some way by their oral health, and in 8% of cases the impact was sufficient to have reduced their quality of life. (+info)
Neuroplasticity induced by tooth pulp stimulation in trigeminal subnucleus oralis involves NMDA receptor mechanisms.
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We have recently demonstrated that application of the mustard oil (MO), a small-fiber excitant and inflammatory irritant, to the rat maxillary molar tooth pulp induces significant increases in jaw muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity and neuroplastic changes in trigeminal (V) subnucleus caudalis. Since subnucleus oralis (Vo) as well as caudalis receives projections from molar pulp afferents and is also an integral brain stem relay of afferent input from orofacial structures, we tested whether MO application to the exposed pulp induces neuroplastic changes in oralis neurons and whether microinjection of MK-801, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist, into the Vo influences the pulp/MO-induced neuroplastic changes in chloralose/urethan-anesthetized rats. Single neuronal activity was recorded in Vo, and neurons classified as low-threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM), wide dynamic range (WDR), nociceptive-specific (NS), deep (D), or skin/mucosa and deep (S + D). The spontaneous activity, mechanoreceptive field (RF) size, mechanical threshold, and response to suprathreshold mechanical stimuli applied to the neuronal RF were assessed prior to and throughout a 40- to 60-min period after MO application to the maxillary molar pulp. In animals pretreated with saline microinjection (0.3 microl) into the Vo, MO application to the pulp produced a significant increase in spontaneous activity, expansion of the pinch or deep RF, decrease in the mechanical threshold, and increase in response to suprathreshold mechanical stimuli of the nociceptive (WDR, NS, and S + D) neurons except for those nociceptive neurons having their RF only in the intraoral region. The pulpal application of MO did not produce any significant neuroplastic changes in LTM neurons. Furthermore, in animals pretreated with MK-801 microinjection (3 microg/0.3 microl) into the Vo, MO application to the pulp did not produce any significant changes in the RF and response properties of nociceptive neurons. In other animals pretreated with saline (0.3 microl) or MK-801 (3 microg/0.3 microl) microinjected into the Vo, mineral oil application to the pulp did not produce any significant changes in RF and response properties of nociceptive neurons. These findings indicate that the application of MO to the tooth pulp can induce significant neuroplastic changes in oralis nociceptive neurons and that central NMDA receptor mechanisms may be involved in these neuroplastic changes. (+info)
Therapeutic uses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in dentistry.
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The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used classes of drugs for the management of acute and chronic pain in dentistry. Their therapeutic efficacy and toxicity are well-documented and provide evidence that NSAIDs generally provide an acceptable therapeutic ratio of pain relief with fewer adverse effects than the opioid-mild analgesic combination drugs that they have largely replaced for most dental applications. The great many studies done with the oral surgery model of acute pain indicate that a single dose of an NSAID is more effective than combinations of aspirin or acetaminophen plus an opioid, with fewer side-effects, thus making it preferable for ambulatory patients. The combination of an NSAID with an opioid generally results in marginal analgesic activity but with an increased incidence of side-effects, which limits its use to patients in whom the NSAID alone results in inadequate analgesia. The selective COX-2 inhibitors hold promise for clinical efficacy with less toxicity from chronic administration and may prove advantageous for the relief of chronic orofacial pain. The use of repeated doses of NSAIDs for chronic orofacial pain should be re-evaluated in light of a lack of documented efficacy and the potential for serious gastrointestinal and renal toxicity with repeated dosing. (+info)
Are antibiotics being used appropriately for emergency dental treatment?
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AIM: To investigate the therapeutic prescribing of antibiotics to patients presenting for emergency dental treatment. DESIGN: A prospective clinical study. METHOD: Information was collected via a questionnaire concerning the patient's reason for attendance and treatment undertaken at emergency dental clinics in North and South Cheshire. RESULTS: Over an 11-week period 1,069 patients attended the five clinics, 1,011 questionnaires were analyzed. The majority of the attendees had pain (879/1011). 35% (311/879) of these patient had pulpitis and 74% (230/311) had been issued a prescription for antibiotics, without any active surgical intervention. Th principal antibiotic prescribed for both adult and child patients was amoxicillin. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients attending the emergency dental clinics had pain, with a large proportion having localised infections either as pulpitis or localised dental abscess. Three quarters of these patients had no surgical intervention and were inappropriately prescribed antibiotics. (+info)