3rd International Conference on Evidence-Based Dentistry

A major challenge for many health care professionals around the world is to critically assess new science, new concepts, new procedures, and new products, especially if this conflicts with what was taught in school. Critical thinking is not top-of-mind for many dental undergraduates, where established practice, expert opinion, and achieving adequate clinical credits prevail. Once in clinical practice, clinical judgment and “what works for me” becomes the personal conventional practice.

An evidence-based approach is now considered a key competency for health care professionals and is becoming part of the undergraduate curriculum in many schools globally. Providing dental professionals worldwide with a better understanding of an evidence-based approach to clinical decision support was a key goal for the Third International Conference.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a major investor in dental research globally and therefore a strong advocate of evidence-based approaches to scientific enquiry. For that reason, P&G was happy to continue supporting these International conferences by providing an educational grant for the Third International Conference on Evidence-Based Dentistry. Previous conferences have fostered partnerships among practitioners, researchers, publishers, and the dental industry in understanding, critiquing, and promoting the use of the best available evidence to enhance health care decisions. This conference was distinctive as it was held immediately after the ADA Champions Conference and therefore attracted many more practicing clinicians who could articulate ways in which an evidence-based approach had benefited the ways in which they practice.