Increasing adoption of new innovations and effective practice recommendations.

The Effective Dental Practice Program One approach is to develop a program of research specifically dedicated to investigating the translation of knowledge into evidence– based dental practice within primary dental care services as well as dental education. The Effective Dental Practice (EDP) Program now includes a range of such studies funded by the Medical Research Council, the Chief Scientists Office, the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Scottish Government. For example, the ERUPT trial examined the effect of 2 different implementation strategies to increase the adoption of effective practice recommendations in Scotland – a specific fee for service and a general education course. One–hundred and forty–nine general dental practice GDPs returned data on 2,833 children who had treatment records showing at least 1 erupted second molar. The trial demonstrated that a fee for a preventive fissure sealant would increase the number of children receiving such care by 10%. The results of this trial informed and influenced the Scottish Executive policy decision to change the fee for item of service for this particular treatment.