Impact of gonadotropin-releasing hormone administration at the time of artificial insemination on conception risk and its association with estrous expression.

Cows with reduced estrous expression have compromised fertility. The aim of this study was to determine whether the administration of GnRH at the time of artificial insemination (AI) would affect ovulation rates and the fertility of animals expressing estrous behavior of lesser intensity. Cows were enrolled at the time of estrus from 3 farms (n = 2,607 estrus events; farm A: 1,507, farm B: 429, farm C: 671) and randomly assigned to receive GnRH at AI or not (control).

Using the Timmer Scale to Standardize Pediatric Dentistry Residents' Scientific Appraisal Skills.

Introduction: There is no consensus on the best methodology to apply evidence-based practice principles to develop a systematic approach to improve critical appraisal or research design evaluation skills in advanced education journal clubs.

Methods: We implemented a tool-based approach for our pediatric dentistry residents' journal club centered on the use of a study quality assessment tool, the Timmer scale. The tool consisted of 19 standard questions that evaluated the research methodology, data collection, statistical analysis, and reporting of the findings of each article.

Confidence in outcome estimates from systematic reviews used in informed consent.

Objectives: Evidence-based dentistry now guides informed consent in which clinicians are obliged to provide patients with the most current, best evidence, or best estimates of outcomes, of regimens, therapies, treatments, procedures, materials, and equipment or devices when developing personal oral health care, treatment plans. Yet, clinicians require that the estimates provided from systematic reviews be verified to their validity, reliability, and contextualized as to performance competency so that clinicians may have confidence in explaining outcomes to patients in clinical practice.

Analysis With Results: The purpose of this paper was to describe types of informed estimates from which clinicians may have confidence in their capacity to assist patients in competent decision-making, one of the most important concepts of informed consent.

Can a licorice lollipop decrease cariogenic bacteria in nursing home residents?

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine whether an herbal lollipop containing licorice root decreases Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) bacteria that cause dental caries in nursing home residents. A total of 8 residents (5 women, 3 men; mean age = 85) consented to participate in this study.

Development and evaluation of a safe and effective sugar-free herbal lollipop that kills cavity-causing bacteria.

Dental caries (tooth decay) is caused by a specific group of cariogenic bacteria, like Streptococcus mutans, which convert dietary sugars into acids that dissolve the mineral in tooth structure. Killing cariogenic bacteria is an effective way to control or prevent tooth decay. In a previous study, we discovered a novel compound (Glycyrrhizol A), from the extraction of licorice roots, with strong antimicrobial activity against cariogenic bacteria.

Probability-Utility Model for Managing Evidence-based Central Database.

The Probability-Utility Model is dependent on the clinical practice guideline for its function. The Model functions to provide decision analyses that demonstrate to clinicians and patients how personal preferences change the character of best evidence. Initially, patients are provided a clinical practice guideline based on "average patient" best evidence.

The Translation Evidence Mechanism. The Compact between Researcher and Clinician.

Currently, best evidence is a concentrated effort by researchers. Researchers produce information and expect that clinicians will implement their advances in improving patient care. However, difficulties exist in maximizing cooperation and coordination between the producers, facilitators, and users (patients) of best evidence outcomes.

Transforming scientific evidence into better consumer choices.

Translational research using evidence-based and comparative effectiveness research continues to evolve, becoming a useful tool in improving informed consent and decision-making in the clinical setting. While in development, emerging technologies, including cellular and molecular biology, are leading to establishing evidence-based dental practices. One emerging technology, which conjoins bench proteomic findings to clinical decision-making for treatment intervention, is the Translational Evidence Mechanism.

Model of evidence-based dental decision making.

Shared decision making empowers patients as informed consumers, helping them to make clinical decisions that optimize their personal oral health. Evidence-based dentistry supports this process by providing best evidence that, when presented in visual and interactive formats, focuses consultation time on treatment or therapy options and their trade-offs. Currently, an explosion of evidence and technological advancements have necessitated a cooperation that translates into an interdisciplinary approach to care delivery.

Evidence-based decision making in dental practice.

For an evidence-based dental practice, shared decision making is made possible using an intuitive or analytic approach in reconciling best evidence and patient characteristics and preferences. Decision trees assist the dentist when presenting conditions and patient values are less certain in recommending treatment modalities whose benefits and harms are variable or unknown. Using clinical practice guidelines (or protocols organized within a decision tree), best evidence, based on the "average patient", is integrated into the decision tree.

Making clinical decisions using a clinical practice guideline.

Clinical practice guidelines are statements developed from best evidence about clinically relevant appropriate care. A simulated patient case is presented to demonstrate how to use a CPG in decision-making in determining a clinical decision. Conceptualized knowledge management software templates are provided to explain a process by which best evidence is retrieved from a primary, centralized network database.

Evidence-based dentistry: a clinician's perspective.

Evidence-based dentistry is a discipline that provides best, explicit-based evidence to dentists and their patients in shared decision-making. Currently, dentists are being trained and directed to adopt the role of translational researchers in developing evidence-based dental practices. Practically, evidence-based dentistry is not usable in its current mode for the provision of labor-intensive services that characterize current dental practice.

Evidence-based dentistry: fundamentals for the dentist.

This article explains the fundamentals of evidence-based dentistry for the dentist. Evidence-based dentistry is a discipline whose primary participant is the translational researcher. Recent developments have emphasized the importance of this discipline (clinical and translational research) for improving health care.

Dental needs of the elderly in the 21st century.

The average age of the world's population is increasing rapidly. The "graying of America" presents new opportunities and new challenges for improving the oral health of the elderly, particularly those afflicted with neurocognitive impairments. The dental problems associated with these conditions include but are not limited to a decrease in oral hygiene; difficulty in controlling and retaining dentures; xerostomia, which often is drug-associated, and consequential root caries, recurrent decay, and purposeless chewing.

Psychoneuroimmunology in oral biology and medicine: the model of oral lichen planus.

Rheumatoid arthritis involves psychoneuroendocrine-immunopathological comorbidities. In the stoma, patients with rheumatoid arthritis frequently show signs of periondontal disease consequent to elevated levels of crevicular proinflammatory cytokines. It is not clear whether rheumatoid arthritis may manifest in association with immunopathological manifestations of the oral soft mucosa.