Economic evaluations play an important role in identifying the cost-effectiveness of alternative healthcare programmes, informing decisions surrounding funding and the allocation of resources. This paper outlines the basic principles of economic evaluation and how it can be conducted alongside a clinical trial. Furthermore, it considers the ways in which evidence from these studies can be used, and the challenges researchers are faced with when conducting economic evaluations in the field of children's oral health.
© 2021 The Authors. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry published by BSPD, IAPD and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.