Introduction: Clinical Research with Electronic Patient Records

American and Canadian dental schools will invest over $100 million implementing their initial electronic patient record (EPR) systems. While EPRs contain extensive clinical information, systems must be designed appropriately to further research. Limiting issues include the lack of dental diagnostic codes and infrequent use of standardized outcome measures. This program will highlight restrictions of the current systems and suggest improvements. Enhanced EPRs undoubtedly will further evidence-based treatment, an issue of great importance to ADEA and IADR.