Dentists' Understanding Of, And Attitudes Towards, Evidence Based Practice Amongst Dentists Of Tertiary Care Center

Objectives: To assess dentists' understanding of, and attitudes towards, evidence based practice (EBP).
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires. Sample size was 75 dentists. Dentist’s age, sex, and attainment of a Master’s degree was also ascertained. Data was analyzed by SPSS.
Results: A total of 73 subjects, including 25 male and 48 female, having age group between 21-50 years, were included in this study.86.3% of individuals did not do postgraduation.45.2% acknowledged that their daily work is influenced by research work while 64.4% agreed that peer reviewed journals provide the best current evidence for them to incorporate into their practice.93.2% were interested in more clinical practice guideline and 20.5% were satisfied with their current knowledge. 52% consulted pub med and 2.7% consulted research engine on daily basis.63% had some understanding for the terms used in literature articles.57.5% changed their practice philosophy based on expert advice and 58.4% consulted text-books and colleagues. The main difficulty faced during EBP was lack of guidance.
Conclusions: EBP is not a concept that every dentist is familiar with. Educational initiatives are needed to help promote evidence based dentistry.