Patterns of oral care in dental school and general dental practice

This study compared patterns of oral care provided by predoctoral dental students for patients seeking treatment at the University of Washington (UW) with patterns reported for general dental offices by the Washington Dental Service (WDS). Dental care included about 5 million services provided to 880,317 patients by 2,803 WDS general dentists and about 45,600 dental services provided to 9,488 patients by 155 UW dental students during 1999. There was high fidelity between databases and randomly surveyed patient records for treatment provided in both UW (95 percent) and WDS (97 percent) populations. While patient age patterns were generally similar, UW students completed more procedures for young children and for adults older than seventy-four years but completed fewer procedures for age groups of from thirteen to eighteen and from forty-five to fifty-four than general dental offices. The relative mix of all services completed by UW and WDS providers was similar (ANOVA, P=0.82). Within categories of service, the percentage of total services completed by students compared to those submitted by community dentists to WDS was about the same for examinations, radiographs, fluoride and sealants, amalgams, composites, single crowns, and endodontics. The percentage of total procedures completed showed a greater emphasis by UW students on inlays/onlays, dentures, extractions, and periodontal maintenance, and lesser experience with implants, orthodontics, sedation, and emergency procedures than general dental offices. We conclude that the relative distribution of clinical services provided by UW dental students is comparable to those procedures reported to WDS by dental offices in the adjacent community.