Developing skills and art | British Dental Journal

Sir, Dr Gibson makes an excellent point about the importance of art in dentistry (_BDJ_ 2005; 199: 247). Regarding evidence-based dentistry (EBD) however, there is a misunderstanding. By

definition (and by practice), EBD does not dictate what to do. Instead, it offers decision support by providing the best evidence available to integrate both with patient preferences and

with a professional's highly developed skills and art. Developing skills and art are not by-passed but instead, are an essential aspect of delivering high quality patient care.1 There

are parallels with periodontics. Many clinicians use plaque indices in patient care. However, few would blindly apply the values of the indices to assessing oral hygiene without considering

other issues such as when the patient last brushed their teeth, their susceptibility to periodontal diseases, etc. Numbers alone do not make decisions. What EBD does provide is the best

available evidence for effectiveness and harms and tries to quantify the probability of achieving such outcomes where the data are available. Alternatively, it might own up to a lack of good

evidence if this is the case. Such evidence is derived by stripping away accumulated bias and opinion, objectively assessing research quality and by including the totality of evidence,

whether randomised, observational study or qualitative research. Each professional and each patient must make their own decisions on how to apply this information since it will be different

for each particular circumstance. Decisions are therefore also more individual than generic. Now if Dr Gibson would prefer not to have such information available to aid decision making, that

would be surprising. REFERENCES * Needleman I, Worthington H, Moles D . Evidence-based periodontology, systematic reviews and research quality. _Periodontology 2000_ 2005; 37: 12–28.

Article  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * London I Needleman, D Mole & J Suvan Authors * I Needleman View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * D Mole View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J Suvan View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Needleman, I., Mole, D. & Suvan, J. Developing

skills and art. _Br Dent J_ 199, 754 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4813074 Download citation * Published: 24 December 2005 * Issue Date: 24 December 2005 * DOI:

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