How Evidence-Based Dentistry Has Shaped the Practice of Oral Medicine

Abstract

Oral medicine is "the discipline of dentistry concerned with the oral health care of medically complex patients, including the diagnosis and primarily nonsurgical treatment and/or management of medically related conditions affecting the oral and maxillofacial region." In each of these areas, evidence-based medicine has shaped theoretic understanding and clinical practice. The available evidence allows for improved patient management. Further evidence, as it becomes available, should be reviewed on a regular basis to guide our clinical practice.

Keywords: Antibiotic prophylaxis; Evidence-based dentistry; Evidence-based practice; Oral medicine; Oral potentially malignant disorders; Salivary dysfunction; Temporomandibular disorder.