New Zealand Dental Association practice guidelines on evidence-based dentistry.

The importance of evidence in teaching, and to support clinical decisions, is well established in health care, including dentistry. Defending clinical decisions, whether it be with a patient, with a colleague, or at law, increasingly requires reliable data or evidence to support either the treatment plan provided or the treatment given. Recent years have seen an increase in the importance of evidence-based dentistry. This is because of continually changing dental materials and equipment, an increasingly litigious society, an increase in the emphasis of continuing professional development, the information explosion and the consumer movement associated with advances on the Internet. These practice guidelines give a brief review of what evidence-based dentistry is and how to use it. Further details can be found at the New Zealand Dental Association website www.nzda.org.nz.