The Journal of the American Dental Association
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Visits to emergency departments (EDs) for dental symptoms are on the rise, yet reliance on EDs for dental care is far from ideal. ED toothache visits represent opportunities to improve access to professional dental care. ⋯ Though additional research is needed to better understand why younger adults disproportionately use the ED for toothaches, findings from this study suggest the importance of maintaining access to a dental home from childhood through adolescence and subsequently into early adulthood.
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Clinical practice guidelines represent highly processed evidence with associated recommendations to inform clinical practice and optimize patient care. Appropriately developed, evidence-based recommendations will integrate the best evidence regarding benefits and harms, the certainty of the evidence, patients' values and preferences, and resource utilization. ⋯ The authors provide a structure for clinicians to critically appraise clinical practice guidelines to determine whether the guidelines offer trustworthy recommendations.