The study of medicine of any discipline is a lifelong pursuit, and working with patients is called “practicing” for a reason. Medical science continually evolves, as do technology, research, and procedural protocols. “Evidence-based dentistry” has become a buzz phrase across the globe. According to the article “The Challenges of Transferring Evidence-Based Dentistry into Practice” by Richard T. Kao DDS, PhD, Department of Periodontology, University of Pacific and Private Practice, Cupertino, CA (Journal of Evidence Based Dental Practice, Volume 6, Issue 1, March 2006, Pages 125-128), “The goal of evidence-based dentistry is to help practitioners provide their patients with optimal care. This is achieved by integrating sound research evidence with personal clinical expertise and patient values to determine the best course of treatment.”
Many national dental associations have print publications dedicated to EBD. You may want to explore these online resources:
- The ADA is working on an enhanced EBD website. For now, dentists can find abstracts, reviews, and links to journal articles about EBD online at http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/ebd/index.asp.
- The Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry, associated with Institute of Health Sciences in Oxford, also offers a good resource at http://www.cebd.org/.
- EviDents, a collaboration between EviDents.com (website pending), SumSearch, and The Forsyth Institute, Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry, provides an online search engine for evidence-based dentistry. Check it out at http://medinformatics.uthscsa.edu/EviDents/.
- The Forsythe Institute in Massachusetts has a website (http://www.forsyth.org/research/centers/evidence.html) that provides research proving or negating the effectiveness of specific procedures. You may find the multi-language feature and children’s preventive dentistry demonstration helpful, as well.