Assessing the Translation of Research and Innovation into Dental Practice

Objectives: During the past 25 years there have been an unprecedented number of innovations that have improved oral health and functioning. There are variations in lag times between discovery and application to patient care that are related to dentist education and availability of technology for the clinical setting. The purposes of this study were two-fold: (1) catalogue research discoveries and innovations over the past 30 years, and (2) from that list identify those which dentists believed have maximally impacted patient care.

Methods: Thirty IADR leaders identified major innovations over the past 30 years that have had significant impact on dental practice. The ‘top 30’ mentions were then included in a questionnaire that was sent to a random sample of 424 (ALL) U.S. dentists who graduated dental school prior to 1995 (before the recency of identified discoveries) and devoted ≥50% of their time to patient care. Respondents were asked to identify 5-7 items whose LOSS would have the MOST adverse effects on patient care.

Results: 82% of respondents identified as general dentists and 18% as specialists. The most cited advances for ALL were: adhesive dental materials (75%), dental implants (72%), direct bonding systems (71%), dental loupes (55%), universal precautions for infection control (49%) and digital imaging (46%). There was group heterogeneity in ranking of responses between generalists versus specialists. For the oral surgeons and periodontists (OMSPER, n=51), top choices were: dental implants (86%), CBCT imaging (75%), regenerative dentistry and tissue engineering (73%), universal precautions (59%), digital imaging (55%) and dental loupes (51%).

Conclusions: There was agreement among generalists and specialists about the importance of dental implants, digital imaging, use of dental loupes and universal precautions in improving patient care. However, generalists also cited the importance of adhesive dental materials and bonding, and OMSPER cited enhanced imaging through CBCT and biological-based tissue restoration as major advances.