Policies and Procedures That Facilitate Implementation of Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines in U.S. Dental Schools

The aim of this study was to determine the degree to which dental schools in the United States have policies and procedures in place that facilitate the implementation of evidence-based clinical guidelines. The authors sent surveys to all 65 U.S. dental schools in 2014; responses were obtained from 38 (58%). The results showed that, of the nine policies and procedures examined, only two were fully implemented by 50% or more of the responding schools: guidelines supported through clinical faculty education or available chairside (50%), and students informed of guidelines in both the classroom and clinic (65.8%). Although 92% of the respondents reported having an electronic health record, 80% of those were not using it to track compliance with guidelines. Five schools reported implementing more policies than the rest of the schools. The study found that the approach to implementing guidelines at most of the responding schools did not follow best practices although five schools had an exemplary set of policies and procedures to support guideline implementation. These results suggest that most dental schools are currently not implementing guidelines effectively and efficiently, but that the goal of schools' having a comprehensive implementation program for clinical guidelines is achievable since some are doing so. Future studies should determine whether interventions to improve implementation in dental schools are needed.