Evidence-based dental care--a concept review.

Evidence-based (science-based) care is the prevailing paradigm in the health sciences. This paper briefly reviews the basic concepts of evidence-based care. Assessment of scientific evidence including information retrieval, evaluation of the quality of evidence, and finally the synthesis of collected evidence is described. Practitioner approach to evidence-based care through the twin modalities of literature reviews and clinical practice guidelines is outlined. It is concluded that the promotion of outcomes research and the adoption of evidence-based practice is likely to improve the delivery of a high standard of quality dental care.