Lifetime Achievements of our Network: External evaluations validate its high continuing value

• Network Updates

Who We Are

The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network has over 8,400 members from all across the United States. With 5,675+ active practitioners and 475+ practitioners active in clinical studies, the National Dental PBRN is consistently growing in numbers. The Network’s reach extends across all regions of the country – West, Midwest, Northeast, South Central, and Southwest – ensuring a comprehensive approach to dental research that encapsulates a wide range of perspectives and insights.

Our Accomplishments

Since 2005, we have conducted 56 studies involving 20,287 practitioners and 75,311 patients and the analysis of 790,493 patients’ health records. Our publications count stands at 219 with our work being cited over 3,035 times.

Over the years, the Network’s 219 peer-reviewed journal articles were authored by 521 individuals from 229 different institutions and 18 different countries. Our H-index – a metric that measures both productivity and citation impact – is 29, 38% higher than NIH-funded papers in other fields. This achievement underscores our commitment to producing high-quality research that not only contributes to academic discourse but also has practical implications for dental practice.

Impact for The Future

As the NIDCR celebrated its 75th anniversary, current NIDCR director, Rena D’Souza and former NIDCR directors Martha Somerman and Lawrence Tabak shared their experiences as leaders of the Institute and highlighted the importance of the Network for dental practice and research. Former NIDCR directors Lawrence Tabak and Martha Somerman included the Network in the list of the greatest accomplishments of their tenure, and the latter was quoted saying, “The Network is still working beautifully.” The Network practitioners and researchers are committed to continuing the trend of putting practitioners in the forefront of dental research.

The National Dental PBRN continues to contribute to dental research not only nationally but also globally. A recent scoping review mentioned that the National Dental PBRN is considered the biggest network in the world due not only to the wide geographic distribution of our members across the United States, but also to the impressive number of patients and practitioners involved.

Since its inception in 2005, the Network has remained highly productive, impactful, and garnered national and international recognition.  While it is one thing to do our own self-evaluation and make conclusions about our Network performance; it is another to see what external evaluators have to say. All of the assessments above mean that “third-party” external evaluators rated us highly! Our achievements are not just numbers but signify tangible impacts on enhancing oral health care through practice-based evidence and evidence-based practices.

Learn More

1. Cunha-Cruz J et al. Characteristics of dentists in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. Journal of Dentistry 2023;137:104653.
2. Web of Science & iCite reports.
3. Gilbert GH et al. Structure, function and productivity from the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science 2022;6(1):87.
4. Canceill T, Monsarrat P, Faure-Clement E, Tohme M, Vergnes JN, Grosgogeat B. Dental practice-based research networks (D-PBRN) worldwide: A scoping review. Journal of Dentistry 2021;104:103523.
5. NIDCR at 75 – Looking Forward. (July 2023). YouTube.