When I first started practicing dentistry, obtaining answers to clinical questions was often difficult due to a lack of clinical evidence. On many occasions, appropriate answers to important questions were not available.
Under these circumstances, we concluded that it would be best for dental practitioners to become involved in research and answer clinical questions themselves. At the same time, we felt that the dental practice environment in Japan did not encourage clinical research by dental practitioners.Then we learned about the Dental Practice-Based Research Networks (Dental PBRNs) that had been established in the United States and Europe.
We desperately hoped that such a network would be established in Japan, and it was very fortunate that the Takeda Science Foundation offered financial support. We were finally able to establish the Dental PBRN Japan (JDPBRN) in 2010.
Since 2011, JDPBRN has been conducting international collaborative research with the National Dental PBRN of the United States, the largest dental PBRN in the world. Furthermore, since 2020, JDPBRN has been conducting multilateral international practice-based collaborative research with the United States, Brazil, and Japan.
