title: Keeping current: a commitment to patient care excellence through evidence based practice.
abstract: The desire to improve the oral health of clients begins with the hygienist's commitment to keeping current with useful scientific knowledge. The challenge is mastering the skills to discriminate between the many claims and what actually has been shown to be effective. One approach is through evidence-based decision-making (EBDM), which helps practitioners find relevant clinical evidence when it is needed for treatment decisions and for answering client questions. The purpose of this article is to discuss EBDM and its use in practice, potential challenges, future developments and resources that will assist in keeping current.
authors.forename: Jane L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Forrest
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Overman
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D002983:Clinical Competence; D019992:Databases as Topic; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis / Q000592:standards*; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D039781:PubMed; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
keywords: Clinical Decision Support; Cochrane; Evidence-based Decision-Making; Evidence-based Practice; PubMed; pre-appraised evidence