<p>The nature and sources of evidence and information available to clinicians when making shared decisions with patients, and helping them to choose the most appropriate care to meet their health needs, have changed rapidly. The increased range and differing reliability of sources of information, for both patients and clinicians, require the care provider to be competent in critical appraisal. The three key skill areas are: the ability to recognise where claims about the benefits of treatments, some derived from research, have an unreliable basis; to understand whether comparisons of treatments are fair and reliable; and subsequently, how best to help the patient make an informed choice about treatments. It is more important than ever to develop a competency-based assessment of critical appraisal skills for dentistry.</p>