Paradigmatic shifts in occlusion and temporomandibular disorders.

There are several terms that identify proposed paradigms for the way things ought to be carried out in the health sciences: evidence-based, cause-and-effect, diagnostic gold-standard, patient-centred-outcomes, risk assessment, cost/benefit/risk, and efficacious/effective. Collectively these paradigms exhibit varying degrees of interdependence, and have the potential for changing the way dentistry is practiced. A paradigm can be thought of as a standard by which research and health science ought to be conducted and evaluated. In this sense scientists and clinicians try to figure out how to account for various observations and phenomena dictated by paradigms or models of health care; however, it may become necessary to shift to new paradigms that are more consistent with scientific and clinically reality. Some of the potential effects of these shifting paradigms on the practice and teaching of occlusion and temporomandibular disorders are considered.