Provision of domiciliary dental care in North and West Belfast

To determine the level of domiciliary care currently provided for patients by general dental practitioners (GDPs) and to investigate factors that influence the provision of domiciliary dental care in an area of high socioeconomic deprivation in North and West Belfast.

A descriptive study, involving a self-administered postal questionnaire sent to GDPs (n=89) in North and West Belfast.

A valid response rate of 67% was achieved. Almost 20% of responding GDPs reported that they did not routinely offer domiciliary dental care. Of those who did, prosthetic treatment was undertaken most commonly, and other more time-consuming treatments such as fillings were referred to the Community Dental Services (CDS). Many GDPs reported not having a full range of domiciliary equipment, with only half of the GDPs surveyed carrying emergency drugs. Reasons cited for not providing the service were lack of time, the perception that patients would be too difficult to manage, and not having the appropriate equipment. The majority of responding dentists (85%) felt that domiciliary care should be referred to the community service.

The rate of domiciliary care provision in North and West Belfast appears to be falling, despite it being an area of high socioeconomic deprivation where the demand for the service is growing. The general perception was that domiciliary care is too time-consuming, that the patients are too difficult to manage, and that there was a lack of appropriate equipment. As a result, the majority of GDPs in North and West Belfast felt that the CDS should care for all domiciliary patients.