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data in their practices. Our team of coordinators teaches the dentists and their staff how to conduct the research from properly selecting eligible patients to performing treatment and entering data online. that would be timely to address. Funding agencies commonly shift priorities, to take advantage of opportunities, new technologies or discoveries, and to address assessed needs. Their direction can serve as a guide for consideration, but the profession needs to decide what its priorities are for developing the dental hygiene body of knowledge. How do your research activities contribute to the dental hygiene body of knowledge? How does research affect clinical practitioners? As dental hygienists, we make a global assessment of our patients each time they return to our care. Look at any of a number caries risk assessment tools, and you will see that they are a formal evaluation of the many patient characteristics that dental hygienists have been edu-cated to routinely assess. The dental hygiene body of knowledge has the potential to encompass this vast array of patient-related factors, and as a hygienist engaged in research there has been the opportunity to contribute in many areas to the evidence-based practice of dental hygiene. As an illustration, projects have included topics ranging from providing evidence on the safety and ef ¿ cacy of electric toothbrushes and local delivery antimicrobials, to helping establish the effective dose and frequency of use for xylitol as a caries preventive agent. In theory, research study results should provide the evidence for our everyday practice. It should direct the care we recommend for our patients. For example, we should know that, based on numerous studies, the evidence is very strong for daily À uoride toothpaste use in the prevention of dental caries, and that there is strong evidence for the application of À uoride varnish every six months on patients under 18 who are at moderate to high risk of dental caries. Research also brings many of the products we use to market. The local delivery an-timicrobials we use and electric toothbrushes we recommend receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval through clinical research trials. At the same time, as professionals, dental hygienists need to be able to evaluate the strength and source of the evidence, whether we encounter it through journals, CE courses or product marketing. We also need to know how to ¿ nd evidence to answer to our clinical questions. This can be a challenge in the information age, where there is an enormous amount of material to ¿ lter. Courses are becoming available, including online and in journals, to help develop these skills. Peer-reviewed professional journals reporting research studies and summarizing the body of evidence can help meet the challenge to use research results to practice evidence-based dental hygiene. Mariam Pera is Access ’ editorial and graphics assistant. ■ How do you feel about the future of dental hygienists’ involvement in research? Dental hygienists are particularly well-suited to playing a role in re-search projects with their attention to detail, clinical skills, and ability to communicate, [which are] so important to keeping a patient en-gaged in a study from beginning to end. There is the opportunity to be involved in various roles, from a research study coordinator respon-sible for keeping the study on track through patient recruitment and scheduling, to a clinical examiner recording dental indices in a clinic or in the ¿ eld. Dental hygienists may be involved at various levels, from assisting with study conduct to designing a study proposal and seeking funding. The latter typically requires the appropriate academic credentials for consideration by the funding agency. As more and more dental hygienists are pursuing advanced degrees that provide experience with conducting research, hygienists will have the ability to compete for research funding and be able to determine the direction and priorities for research in their profession. Built for Speed Cuts Cold Sore Time in Half! * • Immediate pain relief • Soothes, doesn’t burn • The best-selling natural cold sore treatment *(J. Alt. Med. June, 2005) :KDWZRXOG\RXVD\WRDÀHGJOLQJGHQWDOK\JLHQLVWZKRZDV interested in research? Fabulous! I can’t think of a more exciting career in dental hygiene. Like most careers, be prepared to develop yourself through experi-ence and education. A good ¿ rst step is to learn the language of research. A bachelor’s degree may be a minimum requirement for a research-related position because it will most likely have included a course on basic research methodology. Research positions may be at an academic institution, a dental products company, or a private en-terprise that conducts or monitors research. In the near future, it may be possible for the dental hygienist to participate in research while continuing to work in private practice or a community clinic, as NIH intends to transform the three practice-based regional dental research networks into a national network. Look for opportunities. There is no better place to network than through your association. While it is important to hone your skills, and private practice is a good place to do this, put yourself in a position to take advantage of opportunities by working or volunteering in other settings that use our dental hygiene skill set. Available at most drug stores Recommend Lip Clear Lysine+ with conﬁ dence! Free Trial Sample: 1-800-448-1448 LipClear.com What do you hope to accomplish as a member of ADHA’s Council on Research? At our last meeting, the council talked about updating the National Dental Hygiene Research Agenda. That is an ambitious goal, but one access MAR 2012 23

ADHA Access March 2012 : Page 23

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