Patient knowledge concerning their referral to a restorative dental unit in a community clinic: a pilot study

One hundred patients referred to a Community Dental Service completed a questionnaire, the purpose of which was to find out why they perceived they had been referred and to whom they thought they had been referred. The results showed that most patients (64) perceived they would see a Specialist rather than a Consultant and most (63) thought they had been referred because their dentist could not treat their problem. There was no significant relationship between age and to whom the patient thought they had been referred, and further analysis to estimate the effect of age, gender and length of time with the current dentist or the reasons for referral failed to show any significant relationships.