Health Technology Assessment in Odontology

The national unit for odontology, HTA-O is located at the Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University.

HTA-O stands for Health Technology Assessment in Dentistry and involves systematically evaluating methods and techniques in health care. It is a national unit at the Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University. Subject matter experts contribute to the wider uptake of clinically relevant knowledge and effective practices in dentistry.

Health authorities are heavily dependent on subject matter experts to develop knowledge bases. These experts contribute to the clinical relevance of the evidence base and the wider uptake of effective practices.

An important reason for the formation of HTA-O is that there is a great need for good clinical treatment research in dentistry, where the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU) has identified several important knowledge gaps. Research at Swedish universities can help to fill some of these gaps in knowledge.

Collaboration with the national programme area of dental care

HTA-O has an agreement with the national program area (NPO) that includes everything in the area of dental care. The goal is to develop and disseminate knowledge to make it available and used in every patient encounter. According to the agreement, HTA-O will assist with HTA competence. The extent of the support is adjusted according to the resources available and can, for example, involve training efforts in methodology and work processes.