Rubber dam use during root canal treatment: findings from The Dental Practice-Based Research Network.
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BACKGROUND: The Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) provided a means to investigate whether certain procedures were performed routinely. The authors conducted a study to quantify rubber dam use during root canal treatment (RCT) among general dentists and to test the hypothesis that certain dentist or practice characteristics were associated with rubber dam use. METHODS: DPBRN practitioner-investigators (P-Is) answered a questionnaire that included items about rubber dam use and other forms of isolation during RCT. DPBRN enrollment questionnaire data provided information regarding practitioner and practice characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 729 (74 percent) of 991 P-Is responded; 524 were general dentists who reported providing at least some RCTs and reported the percentage of RCTs for which they used a rubber dam. Of these 524 P-Is, 44 percent used a rubber dam for all RCTs, 24 percent used it for 51 to 99 percent of RCTs, 17 percent used it for 1 to 50 percent of RCTs, and 15 percent never used it during RCT. Usage varied significantly by geographic region and practice type. The use of cotton rolls and other forms of isolation also was reported. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to other reports in the literature, not all DPBRN general dentists used a rubber dam during RCT. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Because the clinical reference standard is to use a rubber dam during RCT, increasing its use may be important. (+info)
A survey of degree completion programs in dental hygiene education.
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The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify specific information related to U.S. dental hygiene baccalaureate degree completion programs. Learning experiences, assessment methods, and baccalaureate institutional partnerships were assessed. Of the sixty dental hygiene programs that offer a degree completion program, the forty-two that met the inclusion criteria (including having operated for at least three years) were invited to participate in a thirty-eight item online survey. A 62 percent (n=26) response rate was obtained. Learning experiences in responding programs included core dental hygiene courses, general education courses, and elective dental hygiene courses. Emphasis areas offered by various programs were in the specialty areas of education, public or community health, and research. Respondents reported that their graduates were employed in multiple settings (65 percent; n=17), with 19 percent (n=5) reporting employment in the combined grouping of private practice, education, and public health. Institutional partnerships included articulation agreements (88 percent; n=21), community college baccalaureate (8 percent; n=2), and university extension (4 percent; n=1) models. The findings of this study provide a baseline for assessing the educational composition and design of U.S. dental hygiene degree completion programs. However, results of this study showed inconsistencies among learning experiences that might raise concerns when considering students' level of preparation for graduate education and future leadership roles in the profession. (+info)
A bookshelf in public health, medical care, and allied fields.
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This bibliography of nonserial publications consists of 610 annotations. It is intended as a guide to the development of a collection for librarians and for health professionals in research and education. References are mostly to publications from 1960. Titles are in English. Both primary and secondary sources are cited. (+info)
A student community dental experience with migrant farmworker families and the rural poor.
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For the past six years, 78 dental students have worked with 25 rural dentists to provide over 31,000 dental health services to migrant patients for all of Colorado's agricultural communities. In 1977, each of 19 dental students averaged over $538 per week in value of comprehensive dental services, including preventive and peridontal services (36 per cent, N=3,006); restorative services (46 per cent, N = 3,904); surgical services (8 per cent, N = 705); services in pulp therapy (5 per cent, N = 413); and an additional 5 per cent (N = 412) in miscellaneous services. A unique combination of federal resources from the Departments of Labor, and of Health, Education and Welfare, were combined through the Colorado State Health Department and the University of Colorado Medical Censtrated by: 1) a relatively low extraction to restoration ratio (1 to 5) when compared to reported studies (1 to 2); 2) a relatively low extract to root canal therapy (10 to 1) when compared to reported studies (400 to 1); 3) no statistical difference between students and rural practitioners in the quality of services as determined by peer review study. This dental program is an integrated component of a comprehensive program combining student and professional services in medicine, nursing, nutrition, and health education. (+info)
Changing patterns in dental education.
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Since the first dental school was founded nearly 130 years ago, dental education has followed an expanding but relatively unchanging pattern. During the last decade the many social changes taking place in our society have been influencing the profession in such a way that dental education and dental practice must necessarily adjust to satisfy the increasing demands for dental care. The profession is studying ways in which these adjustments can be made most efficiently. It is quite possible that the procedures of dental training and dental practice will change significantly in the future. (+info)
Enhancement of high risk children's utilization of dental services.
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One hundred twenty-four children identified as needing care in two elementary schools by a routine department of public health screening were randomly assigned to either a standard treatment group (notification to parents by a form letter) or an experimental group that added personal contact to the standard treatment. Overall, 53 percent of the subjects in the experimental condition who needed treatment at the initial screening had received this treatment at follow-up, while only 12 per cent of the subjects in the control group had received needed treatment. (+info)
Retrospective on community dentistry and public health at the University of Southern California (1966-1976), Part 2.
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The authorization of departments of community dentistry and public health in the nation's dental schools is a relatively recent innovation in dental education. Such a department was established at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry in 1966, as part of the School of Medicine's effort to share responsibility in providing both access and availability of health services in inner-city Los Angeles, California. Dentistry was included in the protocol submitted to the US Office of Economic Opportunity to build a neighborhood health center in Watts, operated under the joint jurisdiction of the medical and dental schools. The dental division of the health center was designated a satellite of the community dentistry department. The department envisioned future changes during the revolutionary 1960s when all aspects of the nation were experiencing upheaval as traditional concepts were challenged by new attitudes. The nation's leaders in government and education as well as in the health professions were stimulated by scientific and technologic discoveries. Dentistry had come of age, having gained the respect of other health-care disciplines. It was a time of expanded exploration of means toward a healthier populace and a more sensitive ethical provider of health care. In one decade, the USC community dentistry department accomplished a major shift in attitude about the specialty from one of pervasive opposition and antipathy to that of acceptance and even enthusiasm. The department became competitive with similar units nationwide in educating dental students and practitioners to fulfill their responsibilities at the highest level of proficiency and to be true to the trust bestowed on them by the public. In pursuit of these goals, the department reflected credit on dentistry and the University of Southern California. (+info)