One dental hygienist's role in clinical research.

Clinical research is growing quickly in medicine and dentistry today. Moving research findings from the bench top of a scientific laboratory to the private practitioner's clinical setting is what translational research is all about. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap 2002 for biomedical research has highlighted translational research within medicine, and that includes oral health, as part of reengineering the clinical research enterprise in the United States. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research support this mission, along with their mission, which is " to improve oral, dental and craniofacial health through research, research training, and the dissemination of health information."