From the Co-Editor
Louis F. Rose, DDS, MD
Dear Readers,
Oral health research is critical to the advancement of the dental profession. Raising the standard of care to the next level is a ceaseless endeavor—when we reach the next pinnacle, we set our sights even higher. Consequently, our services have become more comprehensive and more intricate. Shorter chairtime, better esthetics, and less surgical pain are just some of the aspects that our patients notice and appreciate about modern dentistry. Part of Compendium’s mission is to help you craft your patient care.Our first continuing education (CE) article is the second part of a discussion about curing lights. Significant changes in light-curing units and curing modes have occurred recently, and the authors provide an update on the clinical issues that should be considered while curing resin-based composite restorations. Our second CE article examines another aspect of patient care by looking at the recently approved narcotic analgesic tapentadol. While it appears to demonstrate a somewhat lower incidence of nausea and constipation than oxycodone 10 mg to 15 mg, its analgesic efficacy in acute postsurgical dental pain is inferior to ibuprofen 400 mg. The authors note that it should not be used as a first-line analgesic for postsurgical dental pain but possibly as an “add-on” medication when optimal doses of ibuprofen or acetaminophen are not adequate for pain relief. Our Global Health Through Oral Health article highlights an innovative program designed to help address children’s health. This program, implemented in schools in the Philippines and recognized with a Shils Fund award, integrates evidence-based interventions for both oral and overall pediatric health.
The author suggests this program may be easily adaptable for high-income countries, such as the US.In this issue’s Research Update article, the authors present their findings as a means to stimulate discussion on selecting patient populations for clinical research. They maintain that patient populations with realistic plaque and gingivitis scores should be used and their study, based in China, illustrates the selection process to obtain the realistic mean plaque and gingivitis scores in the general population. I hope you enjoy this issue of Compendium. Please visit https://www.compendiumlive.com to take CE courses and read both current and archived issues. I welcome your comments and suggestions: I can be reached at lrose@aegiscomm.com. Thank you for your continuing support.
Sincerely,
