Evidence-Based Dentistry: APPRAISE- The Evidence

There are differences in information resources

All dental resources are NOT equally important

The usefulness of any information source depends on the relevance of the information in the source, the validity of this information, and the work (time, effort, and money) required to access the information.

Usefulness equation :

Usefulness of any info source = Relevance of info x Validity of info
                                                           Work needed to obtain info

Critical appraisal is the systematic evaluation of clinical research papers in order to establish:

1. Does this study address a clearly focused question?
2. Did the study use valid methods to address this question?
3. Are the valid results of this study important?
4. Are these valid, important results applicable to my patient or population?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, you can save yourself the trouble of reading the rest of it.