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.