General dentists' use of diagnostic equipment and methods

An evaluation of the repeatability of electric pulp sensibility tests

The accuracy, reliability and reproducibility of electric pulp tests (EPT) have been investigated but there is conflicting information about their repeatability. The aim of this study was to investigate whether EPT are repeatable over time. EPT results from 180 healthy teeth in 39 patients with 2-10 readings per tooth (total 692 readings) were analysed. Single measures intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) ranged from 0.776 to 0.845 in teeth with 2-7 repeated measures (P < 0.001), indicating good repeatability. With eight or more measures per tooth, the ICC was low, indicating poor repeatability over longer follow-up times, but only seven teeth in two subjects were included in this analysis. The Pearson correlation showed no statistically significant correlation for 2-7 readings but when all readings were included, there was a statistically significant negative correlation. Hence, EPT has good repeatability.

Knowledge, dentist confidence and management of periodontal patients among general dentists from Belarus, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova and Romania

BACKGROUND

Evidence concerning periodontal practice in Eastern European countries is scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate periodontal risk knowledge, patient management and self-perceived confidence among General Dentists (GDs) from five Eastern European regarding their provision of periodontal care.

METHODS

GDs from Belarus, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova and Romania participated in a questionnaire survey. Power calculations were used to identify the sample size for each country. The structured questionnaire included several domains of inquiry. The socio-demographic domain inquired about dentist's age, gender and years of clinical experience. The dental practice domain inquired about practice location, practising or not practising in a group practice and having or not having a periodontist or a dental hygienist in the practice. The distributions of answers across-countries were compared employing one way ANOVA (comparison of means) or Chi square test (comparison of proportions). For each country, the predictors of the study outcomes: a summative knowledge score for periodontal risks and dentist's confidence level were identified employing either linear or logistic multiple regression models.

RESULTS

The sample comprised 390 Belarussian, 488 Lithuanian, 349 Macedonian, 316 Moldovan, and 401 Romanian GDs. The majority of GDs (~ 80%) practiced in urban areas. Age and gender distributions differed significantly among countries. Significant across-country differences were found regarding working/not working in a group practice, having/not having access to a periodontist/dental hygienist and in proportions of patients receiving periodontal treatments or being referred to specialists. None of Macedonian patients nor the majority of Moldovan patients (78%) were referred to periodontists. There were also significant across-country differences in diagnosis, patient management and periodontal knowledge. Only in the Lithuanian cohort were dentists' confidence levels associated significantly with their knowledge. In all countries, taking a medical history was a consistent and significant predictor of having higher periodontal knowledge score. Except in Belarus, periodontal risk assessment was a significantly consistent predictor of certainty levels associated with the provision of periodontal treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

There were substantial differences among GDs in the five countries regarding diagnosis, dentist's confidence and management of periodontal patients.