Clinical evidence and evidence-based dental treatment of special populations: patients with Alzheimer's disease.

This paper presents the novel domain of evidence-based research in the context of treating the dental needs of patients with special needs. A contrast is made between evidence-based dentistry and traditional dentistry, which is based on the evidence obtained by the dentist, with respect to the needs and the wants of the patient, and from the pertinent and accessible literature. By contrast, evidence-based dentistry is focused on integrating traditional dentistry with "the best available" research evidence. The aim of evidence-based dentistry is to improve clinical decision-making by its reliance on a critical analysis of the entire body of the published pertinent literature. It is a system of information management, and a system of data integration that assist clinicians in the process of meshing systemic clinical expertise, evidence provided by the patient, and the best literature evidence to enhance treatment outcomes. Evidence-based dentistry emphasizes rigorous analysis of evidence from clinical research, as the basis of sound dental practice, while discouraging intuitive and unsystematic approaches and promoting the systematic analysis and appraisal of the literature to determine the best treatment alternatives. In the case of patients with special needs, it is critical whether the dentist practices traditional dentistry or evidence-based dentistry to evaluate whether or not the patient is capable of expressing his or her needs/wants, unless, as in the more severe cases, he/she is accompanied by the caregiver. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of a simple in-house questionnaire for evaluating the patient's ability to tell the dentist his or her needs and wants accurately. In this context, the paper examines the dental needs of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type, DAT.