FreeSources for Dentists

For some of you, the academic year is ending or you are finally getting to wear that funny little graduation hat with a tassel and embark on the wide and exciting world of dentistry… one of the fond memories you have of your time at U of T was working closely with a friendly Dentistry Librarian on an evidence based dentistry project and you want to continue to use EBD in your clinical work… but then you look at the cost of replicating the library resources you had at U of T and YIKES! You can’t afford that!

Well fear not, even if you are not at U of T there a great many FreeSources (a.k.a. free resources!) out there for the dentistry community at large. Here we would like to highlight a few key dental FreeSources you may want to check out:

·         PubMed Central: The same great article database search interface you used at U of T is available for free! Search the Medline database for informative dentistry journal articles using the MeSH thesaurus. Searching PubMed Central is a free of charge service although the content of the journal articles will not be free. However, you should be able to order a copy of most articles through your own library (e.g. your public library) for a fee.

·         TRIP: This FreeSource will help you with your evidence based dentistry needs. You can use this tool to help you find information for your research questions. TRIP even allows you to ask your question in a PICO format!

·         PLOS (Public Library of Science): has open access peer reviewed journals.  The PLUS of using PLOS is that content of these open access journals are free to read. These journals include but are not limited to: PLOS Medicine, PLOS One, PLOS Genetics and PLOS Pathogens. For keeping up to date there is also PLOS Current.

·         DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals): Provides you with access to more than 9,000 open access journals which you can read for free.  This FreeSource specifically gives you access to the content of articles in more than 90 dental journal titles!

·         Canadian Dental Association - Oasis: This FreeSource includes OASIS Discussion (for answering clinical questions) and OASIS Help (for chair side decision support). Here you can ask for information on any burning dental question you have or find point-of-care support for topics such as medical conditions, prescription drugs and medical & dental emergencies.

·         DPES (Dental Procedure Education System): Created right here at the U of T Faculty of Dentistry, this FreeSource is “a web-based archive that uses rich media and plain language to help students, patients and dental professionals learn about dental procedures and oral health”.

For more information on FreeSources for dentists the Information Sources for Dentists Research Guide can be consulted.