Premium
Comparison of Dentists' Treatment and Management of Normal and Handicapped Patients
Author(s) -
Seller Conny L.,
Casamassimo Paul S.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.1987.tb01988.x
Subject(s) - medicine , recall , normal group , family medicine , continuing education , physical therapy , pediatrics , dentistry , psychology , medical education , cognitive psychology
Forty‐eight of 120 dentists (40%) responded to a survey using a two‐questionnaire time‐series design. Responding dentists with a median age of 36 years and 9.5 years in practice had received education in care of the handicapped mainly in dental school (42%) and continuing education (40%). They were asked to make the same treatment and practice management decisions for both normal and handicapped patients. No significant differences were found between normal and handicapped patients in the amount of time dentists spend on diagnosis, treatment, planning, or recall (p<0.05). For both normal and handicapped patients, the dentists as a group always chose the same option as treatment of choice for both normal and handicapped patients most frequently from a list of treatment or management options. Individual dentist consistency between normal and handicapped patients in treatment and management was good, with four out of five dentists choosing the same first treatment of choice for both normal and handicapped patients for similar circumstances. Only about one out of six dentists maintained a consistent priority sequence for both normal and handicapped patients when asked to rank a list of four or five possible treatment or management choices.