Big data advances offer opportunities for dental research

At a symposium today (March 18th) titled "Advances in Big Data: Implications for Dental Research", a session will be delivered on big data so that it can be utilised for research purposes.

The symposium, which is taking place at the 45th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research, is being held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.

Federal initiatives in big data allow dental, oral and craniofacial research to utilise information that has been gathered for other purposes – such as large nationally representative surveys, claims data, and electronic health records – to advance the research and practice of dentistry. 

This session will provide an overview of big data and discuss how its research affects dental providers, as well as how the addition of diagnostic coding could expand research possibilities. 

It will also highlight opportunities and priority areas for innovation and research grants, and share examples of successful big data research.