Case study in dentistry

Abstract

Systematic reviews in dentistry have been consistently published in the last two decades, although the publication of overviews of these reviews is a more recent phenomenon. Most of these few overviews published use a variety of tools to evaluate the methodological quality of reviews included such as the Glenny, OQAQ, CASP, and AMSTAR tools. Probably, the most used is the AMSTAR checklist that is becoming widely recognized as a reference for evaluating reviews. These overviews identifi ed methodological limitations in different levels: at primary study level (those included in the systematic review) and at systematic review level. Thus, an overview of reviews has a unique advantage of providing at the same time the "big picture" of evidence and an in-depth view of primary studies forming this evidence. Most overviews reported in this chapter were developed in specifi c fi elds of dentistry, periodontology, and implant dentistry. A selection of reviews on economic evaluation also shows that this subject should receive more attention in dentistry. Based on our best knowledge, up to date, there is no overview of systematic reviews of economic evaluation in dentistry. The published reviews suggested that the standard of conducting and reporting of economic evaluation studies should be improved. As with overviews of systematic reviews on clinical issues, these reviews identifi ed several methodological limitations in primary studies evaluating economic aspects of dentistry.