56:51 min (streamed); Slides (7.4 MB); Handout (PDF, 517 KB)

Abstract: The "digitization" of dental practice is rapidly progressing, but there is a large gap between the clinical and administrative use of computers. Almost all dental practices have a computer, but only a fraction of general dentists (24.6%) use it in the operatory. Only 1.8% of all general dentists have fully electronic dental records.

Challenges to improving oral health include documenting patient care, translating best evidence into practice and advancing knowledge through practice-based research. Most patient documentation is incidental, incomplete, fragmented and recorded after the appointment, making it difficult to use it for research and quality improvement. Novel data input mechanisms, such as natural language processing, can help dentists acquire data more easily and efficiently. Despite an ever-increasing quantity of evidence-based resources, it is difficult for practitioners to access these resources in an efficient, timely and easy manner during patient care. Dentists simply do not have time to conduct a MEDLINE search for the best evidence while they are with a patient. Evidence-based resources should be closely integrated with patient records in order to provide maximum benefit. While the NIDCR has initiated practice-based research in dentistry, only a small number of dentists are aware of this initiative, and many fewer participate in it. Dental informatics research is needed to develop mechanisms to help reuse data from electronic dental records for research.

This presentation will review how selected dental informatics research projects can help solve some long-standing problems in dental research and practice. It will also highlight how you can join the "dental informatics revolution" by becoming a member of the Dental Informatics Online Community, participating in dental informatics research, completing an online dental informatics certificate or getting an advanced degree in dental informatics. The sky is the limit!

Keywords: dental informatics; research; oral health; challenges; patient records; evidence-based dentistry; practice-based research networks; decision making; education; training

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