P. J. Holloway

Caries prevention by dentifrices containing a combination of sodium monofluorophosphate and sodium fluoride. Report of a 3-year clinical trial

Caries prevention by dentifrices containing a combination of sodium monofluorophosphate and sodium fluoride. Report of a 3-year clinical trial

An assessment of capitation in the General Dental Service contract 2. Patterns of treatment provided to regularly attending patients

Objective: To compare the patterns of treatment of general dental practitioners working under fee-for-service in 1987/88 with those working under capitation in 1992/93.Design: 73 randomly selected general dental practitioners working under capitation in three contrasting areas in England retrospectively recorded the treatment provided during 1992/93 to a random selection of their regularly attending 6-12- and 14-15-year-old patients.Results: Mean numbers of examinations per year reduced in the three areas from 1.7-1.8 in 1987/88 to 1.2-1.4 in 1992/93. Mean numbers of visits per patient dropped from 2.5-2.9 to 1.8-2.2. Mean numbers of fillings in permanent teeth reduced from 0.15-1.04 to 0.09-0.52 and in deciduous teeth from 0.28-0.53 to 0.24-0.31. Mean percentages of children per dentist having extractions fell from 9.3-28.1% to 4.7-16.2% while the radiographs reduced from 14.0-9.0% to 6.0-10.6%. Mean percentages of children per dentist receiving oral hygiene instruction rose from 18-31% in 1987/88 to 26-33% in 1992/93. Dietary advice increased from 3-18% to 11-20% and fissure sealants from 3-6% to 3-12%.Conclusions: In 1992/93, dentists working under capitation were carrying out fewer examinations, fillings and extractions and were taking fewer radiographs for their regularly attending child and adolescent patients than dentists working under fee-for-service in 1987/88. These patients also attended less frequently for treatment but received marginally more preventive care and advice

A 30-Month Study Investigating the Effect of Adding Triclosan/ Copolymer to a Fluoride Dentifrice

The aims of the study were (1) to compare the anticaries efficacy of a silica abrasive dentifrice containing 0.24% NaF and 0.3% triclosan/2.0% copolymer with a similar dentifrice without the triclosan/copolymer and (2) to study any disturbance of the oral mucosa associated with the test formulation. A double-blind, random, unsupervised, 30-month longitudinal clinical trial was conducted on 3,462 children who were initially 11-13 years of age. Two trained and calibrated dentists each examined approximately half the children. Examinations were undertaken at baseline, 15 months and 30 months. No significant differences were found between the DFS or DFT mean increments for the two dentifrice groups after 15 or 30 months. At 30 months the 90% confidence interval for the ratio of the mean increments satisfied the ADA criteria for equivalence. It is concluded that a 0.24% NaF/silica abrasive dentifrice containing 0.3% triclosan/2.0% copolymer is equivalent in its anticaries efficacy to a similar dentifrice without the addition of triclosan/copolymer. No side effects attributable to the test or control dentifrices were observed at any time during the study.

An evaluation of a training programme in primary care research for general dental practitioners.

AIMS To determine whether general dental practitioners would find seminars on research methods in primary care research of interest and whether they would be stimulated to plan their own research. METHOD Questionnaire with both open and closed questions distributed to participants at the end of the seminars. 10 seminars in locations throughout the north west of England were planned. RESULTS 98 dentists attended the seminars of whom 81 returned questionnaires, giving a response rate of 82.6%. More than 60% found the seminars and the specially developed teaching manual very useful. However there was somewhat less enthusiasm for undertaking research projects. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that some GDPs are interested in primary care research but are not keen to initiate or plan research themselves.

What's a research protocol?:

A clinical trial needs a carefully structured, written plan in order not only to ensure its smooth running and successful conclusion but also to gain the compulsory agreement of an ethical committee. Such a plan is called a protocol. It consists of several stages. These are: 1 An introduction; 2 A statement of aims, objectives, hypotheses and the calculation of sample size; 3 A detailed account of the methodology, which itself is divided into a number of sections including the methods used in the statistical analysis of the data; 4 A study schedule and costing; 5 Any necessary appendices; and 6 A supporting bibliography. This article describes these stages in detail in the hope that a beginner can better understand the planning of a study involving members of the public.

What is CONSORT? - how to publish a research project

Many research projects are inadequately reported in the scientific and professional literature, so an increasing number of leading journals are insisting on an agreed format for publications. This has been outlined recently in a check list known as the CONSORT Statement (Consolidation of Standards for Reporting Trials). This article explains the foundation on which this Statement was developed and how it will improve not only the reporting of research findings but also the conduct of that research.

What does “evidence-based medicine” mean?

AbstractThere is a growing interest in evidence-based medicine and this article explains how decisions may be made using evidence acquired by applying the principles of scientific method.

A method of assessing dental health education material

AbstractA method for assessing dental health education material was developed and eight specialists in the discipline were trained and calibrated to make judgements on seven parameters. An excellent standard of agreement was reached (81–94%) which will enable the publication of a simple quality assessment of a large number of items of material in a future catalogue. The aim of this paper is to allow producers to appraise the objectivity of the method so that they may better judge whether they wish to submit their material for assessment.

Making sense of the statistics

AbstractIn order to evaluate scientific evidence it is important to have a basic understanding of the principles of scientific method. A previous article discussed these ideas and put forward the underlying rationale for establishing testable hypotheses. This article goes one stage further and begins to examine ways of interpreting the statistical techniques commonly used to test these hypotheses, along with some of the theory that supports their use.