Advancing evidence-based dental practice through collaboration and professional development - despite robust clinical evidence supporting new dental procedures, widespread adoption in practice remains…

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham a $995,553 cooperative agreement on September 1, 2026, under the Oral Diseases and Disorders Research program (CFDA 93.121) to establish a national dental practice training center that develops and delivers scalable, evidence-based training in vital pulp therapy (pulpotomy) and related high-impact dental procedures.

During the two-year UG3 phase (September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2028), the center will develop, pilot, and iteratively refine a hands-on training platform featuring case-based telementoring and simulation with three-dimensional-printed teeth, launching an initial pulpotomy course. The center integrates expertise and infrastructure across three CTSA Hubs—University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), University of Rochester, and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio—each serving as a leading dental institution and regional node for the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network, with UTHSA also hosting the Project ECHO Superhub. Following successful completion of the UG3 phase, a planned three-year UH3 phase will disseminate, implement, and rigorously evaluate the pulpotomy course efficacy across multiple CTSA hubs, with expansion plans to address eleven additional high-impact dental procedures beyond the award period. Place of performance is Birmingham, Alabama.

Advancing evidence-based dental practice through collaboration and professional development - despite robust clinical evidence supporting new dental procedures, widespread adoption in practice remains limited. Dentists often face barriers to implementing new evidence-based techniques due to gaps in continuing education, limited access to practical, hands-on training, and insufficient peer support tailored to their practice context. This dissemination GAP is particularly evident in procedures such as vital pulp therapy (pulpotomy), which, despite strong endorsements and evidence, remains under implemented in the united states. This project will establish a national dental practice training center ("center") that capitalizes on the synergistic expertise and infrastructure of three universities-university of alabama at birmingham (UAB), university of rochester (UR), and university of texas health science center at SAN antonio (uthsa)-each serving as a clinical and translational science award (ctsa) hub, a leading dental institution, and a regional node for the national dental practice-based research network (pbrn), as well as the project echo superhub at uthsa. With this integrated, collaborative platform of national reach and unique capacity, the center will develop, implement, and evaluate a scalable, innovative training program designed to disseminate knowledge and skills that drive the implementation of vital pulp therapy in practice, with plans to expand to 11 additional high-impact dental procedures after the award period. During the 2-year UG3 phase, the center will develop, pilot, and iteratively refine a scalable, hands-on training platform for dental procedures, launching a pulpotomy course using case-based telementoring and hands on simulation with 3D-printed teeth. In the 3-year UH3 phase, the center will disseminate, implement, and rigorously evaluate the efficacy of the pulpotomy course for dentists across multiple ctsa hubs. IT is hypothesized that, compared to standard dissemination, this intervention will yield greater improvements in dentists' knowledge, clinical skills, and adoption of pulpotomy in practice. Guided by pedagogy, behavior change, and organizational dissemination and implementation theories and frameworks, the center will conduct a targeted needs assessment, then systematically create, pilot, and evaluate the course and program using both qualitative and quantitative methods, culminating in a phase IIB randomized controlled trial to rigorously assess the course's impact. Leveraging this synergistic infrastructure, the center employs a systematic, theory- and data-driven approach that integrates networks, peer-to-peer learning, hands-on training with 3D-printed teeth, electronic health record use, and remote fidelity and outcome assessments. This innovative approach creates a scalable and sustainable learning platform that bridges the GAP between research and real-world practice, serves as a model for the rigorous development, dissemination, implementation, and evaluation of additional evidence- based practices, and ultimately enhances patient outcomes and advances clinical and translational science.