These decisions cannot usually be made on the basis of the abstract. Dentists practising in hospitals or academic centres have ready access to the biomedical literature. For others, a number of resources are available for accessing documents. In some cases, registration, subscription or other types of fees may be required by the publisher. The NLM sites offer the Loansome Doc service, whereby full-text articles can be ordered electronically through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
Registration is required and variable local fees are applied.
The CDA Resource Centre subscribes to more than 250 dental journals. Its collection is complemented by a collection of core medical journals and access to much of the biomedical literature through interlibrary loans. For members only, photocopies of requested articles are sent by mail or fax at reasonable rates. Some university dental libraries provide similar services for non-faculty dentists, for which a fee is charged. Conclusion A number of forces are coming together to propel the evidence-based paradigm into everyday dental practice.