An audit to assess the outcome of a 1-day acupuncture course for dentists

The principal author has, during the last 4 years, given 45 1-day courses in acupuncture involving 450 dentists arranged under the umbrella of continuous post-graduate dental education. There is a paucity of evidence in the published dental literature regarding the outcomes after such courses, and the objective of this work was to analyse the outcome after a 1-day acupuncture course.

In co-operation with the individual post-graduate centres, a questionnaire was posted to all participants to ascertain whether; (a) the dentist has taken up acupuncture; (b) how often acupuncture was used; (c) any reasons for not incorporating acupuncture into the daily practice. To further evaluate the quality of the course, the following questions were addressed; (d) overall rating of the course; (e) the relevance of the course, assessed on a scale from 1 to 6 (1, highly unfavourable; 6, very high favourable).

A total of 209 (51.6%) questionnaires were returned, although 15 (3.7%) were subsequently excluded. The male:female ratio of respondents was 3:2, with an average age of 42 and 19 years of experience in dental practice. As many as 46% of respondents had incorporated acupuncture into their practice and 19% reported using acupuncture several times a month. The conditions treated were control of the gag reflex, stress management, sinusitis, headache and facial pain. The main reasons for not taking up acupuncture was 'the dentist never actually got round to starting' (83%) and lack of appropriate patients (60%). Regarding the evaluation of the course, the assessment forms were obtained from 47% of the participants. Participants from all centres rated the course in the top end, 5.3 of 6.0 possible.