Dental Hygiene: What is Evidence Based Dentistry

The EB Dental Process

1. Formulating a searchable question                                                                                Treatment? - Diagnosis? - Etiology? - Prognosis?
2. Searching the literature efficiently
3. Appraising the literature critically
4. Applying the result to clinical practice or patient
5. Evaluating the outcomes of the applied evidence in your practice or patient

In DOSS

Include "Systematic Review" or "Evidence Based" in your keyword or TX search

In CINAHL

Limit Publication Type to Systematic Review to find Evidence-Based Dentistry analysis

Check the Evidence-Based Practice Box to find reviews as well as articles about putting EBD recommendations into practice

In PubMed/Medline

Limit Publication Type to Systematic Review

Patient, Population, and/or Problem

• What are the most important characteristics of the patient?
• How would you describe a group of patients similar to yours?
• What is the disorder and condition of interest?

Intervention

• Which intervention are you considering?

Comparison (gold standard or no intervention)

• What alternative do you want to compare with the intervention?

Outcome

• What outcome you hope to accomplish or measure?