Evidence-Based Dentistry: APPLY

If you have found evidence that is valid, significant and generalizable from the study population to your patient, you must decide whether and how to apply the findings to your patient's care. 

Applying the best evidence is arguably the Evidenced-Based Practice (EBP) step that requires the most skill.  It is at this step that you synthesize the best scientific knowledge with your clinical expertise and the patient's unique values and circumstances to reach a clinical decision:

Before applying evidence from research to your patient, ask yourself:

• Were the study patients similar to my population of interest - do the results apply to my patient?

• Were all clinically important outcomes considered and are the results clinically important?

• Are the likely treatment benefits worth the potential harm and costs?

• Can this practice be implemented in this healthcare setting?

• What are my patients’ values and preferences?

• How can I help my patient make a decision?

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From Evidence-Based Practice in Health by Murray Turner at University of Canberra. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.