Conducting Dental Practice-Based Research in Dental Schools to Provide Clinical Research Experience and Educational Opportunities

On this page

  1. Goal
  2. Background
  3. Gaps and Opportunities
  4. Impact
  5. Current Portfolio
  6. References

May 2021

Center for Clinical Research
Division of Extramural Research

Back to top

Goal

The goal of this initiative is to support patient-oriented clinical research experiences and skills development for clinical faculty and dental/postgraduate students/residents by providing opportunities to conduct practice-based research in dental school clinics, especially in dental schools with limited research resources. This opportunity would expand the culture of scientific inquiry during dental school/postgraduate education, would foster scientific collaborations between dental students/residents and clinical faculty, and has the potential to stimulate additional clinical research pursuits among clinically-oriented faculty members and dental/postgraduate students/residents. This initiative would support developmental and/or small-scale practice-based research studies conducted in the dental school undergraduate/postgraduate clinic setting. Proposed research may utilize the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) infrastructure to support study development and implementation.

Back to top

Background

Dentist/physician-scientists have made broad contributions to biomedical research and have served as leaders in academia, industry, and government. However, there have been growing concerns about the reduction in the dentist/physician-scientist workforce, which may impact dental, oral, and craniofacial scientific contributions and the pipeline of future oral health leaders. Recent data through 2016 suggest that only ~30% of oral sciences DDS-PhD graduates enter academia and contribute to the dentist-scientist pipeline. The 2014 Physician-Scientist Workforce Report cited the following challenges facing the Dentist-Scientist workforce: a majority of new dental schools are non-research-intensive, a decline of research activity in dental schools, a lack of competitiveness of dental school-based researchers for NIH funding, and a diminished pool of research faculty mentors for dentist-scientist trainees. In efforts to revitalize the dentist-scientist workforce, oral health leaders have emphasized the importance of engaging dental students in research activities and the utilization of evidence-based principles as part of the dental school curriculum to acquire the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate and incorporate new knowledge into practice.

Practice-based research networks can generate important and timely information to guide the delivery of health care and improve patient outcomes. A dental PBRN is a unique venue in which to conduct clinical research, as it provides practitioners with an opportunity to propose or participate in research studies, conducted in the real-world environment of dental practice with consenting patients. One benefit of practice-based research is the ability to collect data from practitioners about factors contributing to decision-making and procedures performed, and separately, to collect data from a patient’s perspective, either during a patient’s visit with the practitioner or outside of the clinic visit. Another benefit is the ability to efficiently enroll large numbers of patients, with each practitioner contributing a relatively small number of patients. Dental PBRN studies also have the potential to accelerate the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments for use by dental practitioners to prevent and manage dental, oral, and craniofacial diseases.

Back to top

Gaps and Opportunities

The goal of this initiative is to stimulate productive clinical research experiences and educational activities for clinical faculty and dental/postgraduate students/residents in dental schools, including schools with limited research resources. Clinical research activities will be supported through:

  1. Clinical research experiences in dental school undergraduate/postgraduate clinics, by expanding dental school clinics to incorporate practice-based research activities;
  2. Collaborative partnerships between faculty members who are research-focused and those who are clinically-oriented and/or between high research-resourced academic institutions/oral health research entities and less-resourced dental schools; and
  3. Clinical research skills development through coursework and research education opportunities.

Dental/postgraduate students/residents partnering with faculty would actively contribute to data collection activities with consenting patients in dental school clinics. Participating components of the collaborative research partnerships would involve: Faculty or investigators with NIH R01 or equivalent extramural research support, defined as a high research-resourced entity, partnering with and mentoring clinically-oriented faculty members at that dental school and/or at dental schools with limited research resources. Clinical research skills development for faculty and dental/postgraduate students/residents will be encouraged and may be offered through courses and other training activities offered through the high-resourced entity, online/virtual learning, or other opportunities leveraging resources through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) programs. Clinical faculty will experience patient-oriented research, and dental students/residents partnering with faculty would actively contribute to research activities with consenting patients in dental school clinics. The combined experiences may inspire dental faculty and students/residents to pursue research opportunities and careers. Proposed research may utilize the National Dental PBRN infrastructure to support study development and implementation activities.

A variety of study designs may be appropriate for practice-based research conducted in the dental school clinic setting. This concept would support developmental and/or small-scale practice-based research studies that involve clinical data collection from practitioners and their patients, engaging patient populations who seek care in dental school clinics. Examples of such studies include those ascertaining feasibility of and refining a future intervention, assessing willingness and acceptability of practitioners and patients to perform study procedures or introducing additional clinical care practices into their clinic work flow, or developing technology for use by practitioners and patients. Further, small-scale prospective or retrospective observational studies with clearly defined and measurable outcomes may be considered to develop evidence for the prevention, diagnosis, management and/or treatment of oral diseases and conditions. Examples include cohort studies that provide longitudinal follow-up of prevention or treatment practices, case-control studies with longitudinal follow-up, and cost-effectiveness or efficiency assessments of prevention or treatment practices.

Back to top

Impact

This initiative has the potential to provide research opportunities for dental/postgraduate students/residents and faculty members in dental schools, especially those with limited research resources. It is expected to foster a culture of research and collaborative science in dental schools and will offer a unique approach to provide clinical research experiences and skills development. Ultimately, this initiative may stimulate clinically-oriented dental school faculty and dental students/residents to pursue research careers or contribute to new discoveries through practice-based research. Further, this initiative is in alignment with the main goals of dental practice-based research, which are to streamline the implementation of oral health research studies into dental practices on topics of importance to practitioners and their patients, to provide evidence useful in daily patient care, and to facilitate the translation of research findings into clinical practice.

Back to top

Current Portfolio

In 2019, the NIDCR continued its third cycle of support for research conducted within the National Dental PBRN, for a period from 2019-2026. The National Dental PBRN comprises an Administrative and Resource Center and a National Coordinating Center which provide infrastructure and resources to support development and implementation of clinical research studies within the National Dental PBRN. The NIDCR currently provides two pathways to propose studies that utilize the National Dental PBRN infrastructure: Large observational studies and clinical trials (PAR-20-306), and small developmental/exploratory, feasibility (pilot), and/or survey studies (PAR-20-073).

NIDCR sponsors research training opportunities for dental students under NIDCR funded mentors (e.g., PA-20-222, PA-18-837), and for dental students pursuing advanced training (F30, T32, T90/R90, K12, PAR-21-108, PAR-21-060). Postgraduate dentists and residents may be eligible for administrative supplement support for research experiences (NOT-DE-035). Dental school faculty may be eligible for the Individual Senior Fellowship F33 and NIDCR Short-term mentored career enhancement (K18) awards.

Back to top

References

Back to top
Last Reviewed
April 2024