Canadian dentists' willingness to be involved in dental research

Building a collaborative research network reuniting dentists and academics constitutes a solution in order to bridge the gap between dental research and patient care. The purpose of this study was to identify the kind of clinicians willing to be involved in research and to determine their research priorities.

A questionnaire was mailed to all registered dentists in Canada in December 2001. This questionnaire comprised sociodemographic variables and questions on research utility, research results availability and dental research priorities. The statistical analyses were performed with 2,595 questionnaires completed by dentists working in a clinical setting.

27% of respondents were willing to be involved in dental research, 23% did not know and 50% did not want to be involved. A multiple logistic regression model shows that being open to participate (Yes and Don't know) is associated with: younger age (OR = 2.83), perception that research has a very big impact on the oral health of the population (OR = 1.93), perception that dental research results are not easily available to dentists (OR = 1.47), practice as a specialist (OR = 1.45) and French spoken as a first language (OR = 1.45). A large majority (80%) of dentists who would like to be involved in research think that effectiveness of techniques and treatments are a very high priority.

There is a significant group of dentists who wish to be involved in research. This information could be used to reunite dentists and researchers in a collaborative network.