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Implant education patterns and clinical practice of general dentists in Australia
Author(s) -
Cheung MC,
Hopcraft MS,
Darby IB
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/adj.12708
Subject(s) - graduation (instrument) , attendance , medicine , implant , dentistry , family medicine , surgery , geometry , mathematics , economics , economic growth
Background This study aimed to understand trends in dentists' implant training attendance and correlation to treatment provision. Implant‐specific oral hygiene instruction coverage in training programs was investigated. Methods A cross‐sectional web‐survey of dentists registered in Australia was conducted. Respondents were asked about their background, implant training history and treatment provision. Results were analysed by implant provision characteristics and graduation decade. Results Three hundred and three responses from general dental practitioners (GDPs) were received and analysed. The highest implant training levels attained post‐graduation were postgraduate non‐specialist qualification (7.9% of respondents), continuing professional development (CPD) (73.6%) versus none (18.5%), with differences between implant providers and non‐providers ( P < 0.001), different graduation decades ( P < 0.001) and those restoring implants or performing surgery as well ( P < 0.001). University‐based CPD was attended less than dental association/society or implant company CPD. Non‐providers were significantly less likely to recall implant oral hygiene instruction sources ( P < 0.001). Most GDPs (74.9%) provided implant services, with younger GDPs beginning earlier after graduation. About 16% of respondents did not provide implants once established career‐wise. Conclusions Dentists might be providing implant treatments increasingly earlier in their careers. Respondents with more training were significantly more likely to perform more complex procedures, while implant training attendance trends varied by graduation decade.