Practical considerations for conducting dental clinical trials in primary care
Open accessAbstract
There is increasing importance placed on conducting clinical trials in dentistry to provide a robust evidence base for the treatment provided, and models of care delivered. However, providing the evidence upon which to base such decisions is not straightforward, as the conduct of these trials is complex. Currently, only limited information is available about the strategies to deliver successful clinical trials in primary care settings, and even less available on dental clinical trials. Considerable knowledge and experience is lost once a trial is completed as details about effective management of a trial are generally not reported or disseminated to trial managers and researchers. This leads to loss of vital knowledge that could assist with the effective delivery of new trials. The aim of this study is to examine the conduct and delivery of five dental clinical trials across both Australia and the UK and identify the various factors that impacted upon their implementation. Findings suggest that early stakeholder engagement, and well-designed and managed trials, lead to improved outcomes for researchers, clinic staff and patients, and increases the potential for future dissemination and translation of information into practice.
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Despite the vast majority of dental services being provided in primary dental care, few randomised controlled trials have taken place or are underway in this setting.
“Despite the vast majority of dental services being provided in primary dental care, few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have taken place or are underway in this setting [1].”
From Parental attitudes to randomised controlled trials in primary dental care: A qualitative study (2026) · cites this paper as [1]
The Introduction and Background (page unavailable) says that dental trials have often been small and that little has been published about how to conduct trials in primary care. It does not say that most dental services are provided there or that few primary-care RCTs have taken place or are underway. Searches for those claims found no supporting passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Cited by
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Parental attitudes to randomised controlled trials in primary dental care: A qualitative study
Coventry, H., Maguire, A., McColl, E., & Haighton, C. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0330055
- Authors
- Martin-Kerry, J. M., Lamont, T. J., Keightley, A., Calache, H., Martin, R., Floate, R., Princi, K., & de Silva, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Dundee (GB)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (AU)
- Venue
- British Dental Journal
- Published
- 2015-06
- Volume
- 218
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 629-634
- ISSN
- 0007-0610 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5373
- OpenAlex
- W2103581953
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- other-oa
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- BDJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (acceptedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (07/44/03, 09/01/45, 06/35/99)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Dental Education, Practice, Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics in Clinical Research
- Keywords
- primary care, trial conduct, stakeholder engagement, trial management, knowledge translation, evidence-based dentistry
- MeSH terms
- Australia, Dental Care, Dental Instruments, Humans, Primary Health Care, Scotland, Multicenter Studies as Topic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Patient Selection, Dental Research, Resource Allocation
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