The assessment of systematic reviews in dentistry.

To achieve the goal of summarizing evidence of treatment effectiveness accurately, systematic reviews require rigorous methods to reduce bias and random error. This study identified 65 systematic reviews of interventions for oral, dental and craniofacial disorders. Each review was assessed by a clinician and a methodologist. Twenty reviews focused on pain, 7 each on caries and oral medicine, 6 on periodontics and 5 each on oral surgery and TMJ disorders. The subject of 35 reviews was treatment; of 11, prevention; and of 7, treatment with adverse events. Assessors found that 56 reviews addressed a clearly focused question, and 48 looked for studies appropriate to their question.