Why Study Research?

Why Study Community Health?

Some of you may want to work in the field of research or conduct research projects now or in the future. You may:

• Add to the knowledge base for dental hygiene
• Improve techniques and practices of identifying, preventing, treating disease
• Develop and test theories

All health professionals need to understand the research process enough to:

• Critically evaluate the research in your field
• Keep updated so you can respond with confidence to patient inquiries about new products
• Know what questions to ask when speaking with a sales representative
• Critically evaluate advertisements to determine if they are valid or misleading

For example: Can you spot the problem in this misleading advertisement?

"Investigators found that when patients rinsed with placebo and brushed their teeth, 8.5% of the total plaque area was removed, compared to 34% for those who used Plax instead. In other words, Plax removed 300% more total plaque area than brushing alone."

You can't believe everything you read. It is up to you to think, and to critically evaluate what you read. By the end of this class you should be more confident answering patient questions, reading the research, staying current in your field and critically evaluating and cautiously interpreting advertisements and study results.

Some of you may want to work in the field of community health or conduct community health projects now or in the future. You may:

• Promote the health of the public by improving education, service, practice and/or delivery
• Identify and solve problems in health care delivery

All health professionals need to understand the principles of health promotion and community action so they can contribute in a meaningful way to their communities. Hygienists can make special contributions in the areas of education and advocacy.

Community projects often involve working with agencies, organizations, schools and groups to change policies, environments and norms that support health.

For example: There is a high percentage of untreated caries among low-income children in Flagstaff.

Dental hygienists could:

• Assess risk factors for dental caries to understand why untreated disease is high
• Increase awareness in the community about decay prevention
• Determine ways to increase access to care
• Advocate for fluoridation of the public water supply