Faggion Clovis Mariano
Department of Periodontology and Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
Eur J Oral Sci. 2020 Apr;128(2):103-109. doi: 10.1111/eos.12684. Epub 2020 Mar 10.
Translational research, as the name suggests, "translates" research findings into clinical practice to improve the health of human beings. The translational process builds on information from experiments conducted at a basic level (i.e., in vitro and/or animal studies) and progresses over experimental human studies for efficacy, efficiency, and safety to implementation. Therefore, all steps in the process should be based on studies conducted with the highest methodological quality possible in order to provide accurate and useful information. Furthermore, the systematic dissemination of new procedures/techniques should be done only when they have been proven to be effective and safe. This focus article describes examples of new techniques/procedures in dentistry that have not resulted from an adequate translational research process since the initial evidence was published. These procedures are generally characterised by lack of good evidence, particularly on their potential harms, and lack of adequate chronological order, regarding the translational research process (i.e., human research being conducted before animal research). Even so, they seem to be widely disseminated, and their promotion involves a wide range of sources, including social media. Some guidance is proposed to improve the quality of the translational research process in dentistry, as well as the level of awareness of all parties involved with the use of this research: clinicians, researchers, and patients. By improving the translational research process, optimization of the application and use of these resources, with less risk to the patients, is expected.
顾名思义，转化研究将研究成果“转化”为临床实践，以改善人类健康。转化过程基于基础层面实验（即体外和/或动物研究）获得的信息，并在人体实验中对疗效、效率和安全性进行研究，进而实现应用。因此，该过程中的所有步骤都应以尽可能高质量的方法学研究为基础，以提供准确且有用的信息。此外，新程序/技术只有在被证明有效且安全后，才应进行系统推广。这篇重点文章介绍了牙科领域一些新技术/程序的例子，自最初的证据发表以来，这些技术/程序并非来自充分的转化研究过程。这些程序的普遍特点是缺乏充分的证据，尤其是关于其潜在危害的证据，并且在转化研究过程方面缺乏适当的时间顺序（即人体研究先于动物研究进行）。即便如此，它们似乎仍被广泛传播，其推广涉及包括社交媒体在内的广泛来源。本文提出了一些指导意见，以提高牙科转化研究过程的质量，以及提高所有参与该研究应用的各方（临床医生、研究人员和患者）的认识水平。通过改进转化研究过程，有望在降低患者风险的同时，优化这些资源的应用和使用。
