Moving research knowledge into dental hygiene practice

Dental hygiene, as an emerging profession, needs to increase the number of intervention studies that identify improvements in oral health outcomes for clients. Historically, dental hygiene studies have typically been atheoretical, but the use of theoretical frameworks to guide these studies will increase their meaningfulness. Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations has been used to study research utilization across many disciplines, and may offer insights to the study of research use in dental hygiene. Research use is an important component of evidence-based practice (EBP), and diffusion of research knowledge is an important process in implementing EBP. The purpose of this paper is to use diffusion of innovations theory to examine knowledge movement in dental hygiene, specifically through the example of the preventive practice of oral cancer screening by dental hygienists, considered as an innovation. Diffusion is considered to be the process by which an innovation moves through communication channels over time among a social network. We suggest diffusion theory holds promise for the study of knowledge movement in dental hygiene, but there are limitations including access to and understanding research studies as innovations. Nevertheless, using a theoretical framework such as Rogers' diffusion of innovations will strengthen the quality of intervention research in dental hygiene, and subsequently, health outcomes for clients.