When faced with real life situations such as the above exercise, it is imperative that health care professionals are able to answer such questions accurately in order to maintain credibility with their patients. Scientific evidence is dynamic and ever changing as new research is conducted. What we know to be true right now may change and thus keeping current with the scientific literature is important.
With information currently accessible to everyone on-line, patients are constantly searching for answers to their own health questions but often find inaccurate information. It is our role to ensure that they receive the most current and accurate information about their oral health. This means that oral health professionals need to have a better understanding of the principles of causation and of how to interpret the literature and ultimately apply it towards this end. Some suggestions on how to approach this daunting task are as follows:
Remember, that proving causality is a complex undertaking! "Unknown effects of biomedical individualism as well as the social determinants of disease cast a large 'web of causation' that are difficult to take into account."1 Thus, if not absolutely certain, avoid using any words that imply ‘causation’ when talking to your patients.
Your session is about to expire. Do you want to continue logged in?
WARNING! You did not finish creating your certificate. Please click CONTINUE below to return to your previous page to complete the process. Failure to complete ALL the steps will result in a loss of this test score, and you will not receive credit for this course.