Skip to Main Content

PubMed for Dental Research: Basic Searches

Created by Health Science Librarians

Topic Search

Finding a few good good articles on a particular dental topic can be very easy.

State your question as specifically as possible:

  • Is acupuncture effective for the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders?

Identify the key words in your question:

  • acupuncture
  • temporomandibular joint disorders

Type the key words into the search box:

  • acupuncture AND temporomandibular joint disorders

PubMed searches for the keywords in the article title, abstract and subject headings. It does not search the full text of the article.

Results are returned with newest articles first in summary format. Click on the title for more information about a single article. Change the Display Settings to Abstract for more information about all the articles in the search results.

PubMed Basic Search Example

 Go to a PubMed search for: acupuncture AND temporomandibular joint disorders

Author Name Search

Enter the author's name in the following format: Author's Last Name(space)1st initial2nd initial

Author Search Format

Note:

  • No periods are necessary. Do not use commas.
  • Adding the second initial helps focus the search on a particular person, but may cause you to miss articles published by the author that do not include the middle name.
  • Full author names can be searched for articles published from 2002 forward.

Go to this search in PubMed: slade gd
Notice that the last (oldest) article retrieved was published in May 1982

Go to this search in PubMed: Gary Slade
Notice that the last (oldest) article retrieved was published in June 2002.

Journal Name Search

To find all the articles in PubMed from a particular journal, select Advanced below the search box.

Advanced Search Link

On the PubMed Advanced Search Builder page:

  1. Select Journal from the drop-down options next to the Search Builder box
  2. Start typing the journal name in the Search Builder box
  3. Select the correct full journal name from the auto-complete list

Journal Name Search

With the correct full journal name inserted in the top search box, click the search button.

Go to the PubMed Advanced Search page

Single Citation Matcher

To find a specific article when you know some of the publication information such as journal name, publication date, page numbers, author name, or title words, use the Single Citation Matcher form.

The link to Single Citation Matcher is on the opening PubMed page. It is the second item in the lower center section labeled PubMed Tools.

Link to Single Citation Tool

You only need to fill in a few data points.
Author Name and First Page often bring up a single result.

Single Citation Form

Go to the PubMed Single Citation Matcher

Create alert (Save search)

Consider saving your search whenever you want to:

  • Return to the same search later
  • Receive email alerts with new articles on a particular topic or from particular journals

To create an alert / save a search:

  • Enter the search in the search box
  • Click the "Create alert" link under the search box

PubMed: Create alert (save search)

Saved searches are stored in My NCBI

  • PubMed provides access to storage space as part of a personal account called "My NCBI". When you select "Create alert", you are prompted to sign in to My NCBI.

Sign in to My NCBI with your Onyen

  • Click on "See more 3rd party sign in options" and select University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

My NCBI Institutional Sign In

  • Once you have signed in to My NCBI, a page appears with options to name the search and set up an email alert.

Return to My NCBI

  • To run or modify your saved search, click on the My NCBI Sign In link at the very top of the right hand side of the PubMed page. After you sign in, click on your user name next to the My NCBI Sign Out to access your stored content.

My NCBI Sign-in PubMed Home

Learn more about My NCBI