ADA launches EBD Web site
The ADA will launch a new Evidence-Based Dentistry Web site March 10 that is designed to help dentists keep up with the best and most current scientific information.
The new feature is open to both oral health professionals and patients worldwide and can be found at http://ebd.ada.org.
The site strives to provide dentists with access to information they need to make clinical decisions in a concise, user-friendly format.
In the past, ADA members and stakeholders have told the Association that they needed one centralized online resource to access the most current scientific information, and thanks to a grant from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (Grant number G08LM008956), the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry is proud to offer this new feature. The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs provides oversight to the center’s activities, including the EBD Web site.
“The Association has responded to member and stakeholder requests to create an EBD Web site, and we are proud to be the go-to source for evidence-based dentistry,” said ADA President John S. Findley. “This Web site will be a valuable resource for the profession, helping dentists access the most current science and apply it to treating their patients.”
The new Web site will also contain critical summaries鈥攐ne-page synopses of the key elements of a systematic review that dental team members need to know when making treatment decisions.
The critical summaries are written by practicing dentists who have been trained in critical assessment of published studies. The critical summaries will also be a new monthly feature of The Journal of the American Dental Association starting with the March issue.
Some key features of the new Web site include:
- A database of systematic reviews which currently contains more than 1,300 reviews. The database will be updated quarterly.
- Clinical recommendations that provide evidence-based guidance on how current scientific evidence may be applied to patient care.
- A section where dentists can suggest clinical ideas and let the ADA know the clinical questions they encounter during patient care.
- Links to many other useful resources, including links to outside resources such as tutorials, glossaries and databases.
“The ADA plays an important leadership role in the profession and consequently, its support of evidence-based dentistry will go a long way toward validating this approach to dental practice for many practitioners,” said Dr. Robert Weyant, a member of the EBD Web site’s expert panel and chair of the Department of Dental Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.
“What’s more, the approach adopted on the Web site, having peers prepare the summaries and encouraging comments and interaction among the users, is clearly the best approach for ensuring relevance of the information,” Dr. Weyant continued. “Overall this is an important step forward for dentistry.”
The Web site boasts a panel of world-renowned EBD experts who provide oversight for the EBD Web site, including training and overseeing the dentists that write the critical summaries.
These panel members include: Dr. Weyant; Dr. James Bader, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry; Janet Clarkson, Ph.D., University of Dundee (Scotland), Dental Health Services and Research Unit; Dr. John Gunsolley, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry; Dr. Philippe Hujoel, University of Washington School of Dentistry; Dr. Asbjorn Jokstad, University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry; Dr. Joseph Matthews, University of New Mexico School of Medicine; and Dr. Rick Niederman, Forsyth Institute.
In this opening stage, the EBD Web site currently has information for dental and health care professionals. In its next phase, the ADA will develop content for the general public.
For more information, visit the new Web site at http://ebd.ada.org.聽