The paper presents definitions of key terms concerned with development of medical practice guidelines, identifies eight attributes of good practice, and examines issues of guideline implementation and evaluation. The eight attributes are validity, reliability and reproducibility, clinical applicability, clinical flexibility, clarity,…

A study compared the treatments and the amount of time needed for treatment of the dental needs of developmentally disabled, severely compromised, and moderately compromised patients with those of nondisabled patients in a hospital ambulatory dental clinic. (MSE)

The paper discusses computer-based decision support in the following areas: the dental patient record system; diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the oral mucosa; treatment strategy in complex clinical situations; diagnosis and treatment of functional disturbances of the masticatory system; and patient recall. (DB)

The role of the patient in dental education is examined from several perspectives, including factors influencing the patient population within dental school clinics, the role that patient care plays in schools, and opportunities for attracting and maintaining sufficient patients to provide educational experiences for students. (Author/MLW)

The paper describes current research interests and priorities of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, relates those interests to dentistry and oral health, and discusses the development of practice guidelines within the context of other initiatives of the Agency including the Medical Treatment Effectiveness Program. (DB)

The University of Southern California School of Dentistry opened an evening dental clinic to accommodate patient scheduling needs. It found that faculty and students overwhelmingly supported the clinic hours and that a new clientele emerged. (MSE)

Marquette University's experience with two extramural clinics are described. Students spend six weeks at these sites, primarily to involve them in assessing and caring for the dental health needs of patients whose ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds are different from the populations at a clinic on campus. (MLW)

Dental and dental hygiene faculty should maintain their clinical skills through regular practice, to improve their ability to relate to students through instruction, provide an additional source of income, and improve their image in the community. Institutional policies fostering and regulating faculty practice plans are suggested. (Author/MSE)

Trends in health care are examined, and nonprofessional and professional graduate education are compared with graduate dental education to determine differences. Alternatives for financing the latter, and future educational and government policies that may affect funding, are analyzed. (MSE)

The validity of the Periodontal Treatment Need System and the Community Periodontal Index for Treatment Need as screening tests for allocation of patients to dental students was assessed and compared. Sixty-one patients reporting to the Department of Periodontology at the University of Oslo were studied. (MLW)

The paper proposes a zero concept, health-oriented approach to applying informatics to two health care problems: first, the lack of easily understood and used terminology linking health problems and interventions to the concept of "health"; and second, the lack of a unifying principle on which to base all aspects of health care. (DB)

A group of patient-centered comprehensive-care clinics revised its treatment planning system to better accommodate patient needs for information while still serving student needs for instruction and support. (MSE)

Results of a survey of 59 U.S. and 10 Canadian dental schools indicate a potentially serious problem in obtaining and maintaining dental teaching patients to provide clinical experience for dental students, possibly compromising the clinical education process. (MSE)

The valuable role that predoctoral dental and dental hygiene student involvement in specialized hospital programs can play in the educational process is described. The University of Maryland Dental School program emphasizes the involvement of students in major clinical research related to cancer patients. (Author/MLW)

The "practice" aspect of the dental profession is reviewed. It is suggested that there is no way to separate education, practice, research, financing, government, science, business, management, motivation, and the public from one another. Retail dentistry, health maintenance organizations, franchising, advertising, and denturism are…