Dental care of a child in pain – a comparison of treatment planning options offered by GDPs in California and the North‐west of England

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry - Tập 13 Số 3 - Trang 165-171 - 2003
Anthony S. Blinkhorn1, R. Zadeh‐Kabir1
1University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Tóm tắt

Summary. Objective. To compare the treatment plans offered by general dental practitioners (GDPs) in the North‐west of England (UK) and California (USA) in dealing with a child in pain.Methods. A cross‐sectional postal survey of a convenience sample of 135 UK and 170 USA GDP. These GDPs were asked to consider a case scenario of a 5‐year‐old child with pain from a lower first primary molar and to offer a treatment plan. The plan was to have three phases: immediate care, follow‐up care and longer term preventive strategy. The influence of cost on treatment plans was also recorded.Results. Response rates for the GDPs were 117 (86·6%) from the UK and 139 (81·8%) from the USA. The major differences in immediate care were as follows: 98% of Americans would take a radiograph, 41% would consider extraction, 37% would place a space maintainer and 4% would use general anaesthesia to extract a tooth. Comparable proportions for the English dentists were 20%, 21%, 2% and 40%. Later clinical options also showed differences: 39% of UK dentists would extract all first primary molars compared to only 1% of Americans. Eighty‐eight per cent of USA dentists would place a nickel chrome crown compared to 4% of UK respondents. There were also differences in the longer term preventive measures. Greater proportions of American dentists would offer fluoride varnish (30%) and fluoride mouthrinse (37%). Comparable UK responses were 13% and 28%. Cost of care was only mentioned by 3% of UK dentists, whereas 70% of USA dentists mentioned cost as a factor in treatment planning.Conclusion. There were marked differences in the treatment of a child in pain between general practitioners in the UK and the USA. Further investigations are required to elucidate the reasons for these differences.

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Tài liệu tham khảo

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Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry

Tập 13 Số 3

165-171

Thông tin tác giả