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Evaluation of dental practitioners with special interest in minor oral surgery
A Pau1, S Nanjappa, S Diu
1Dental Institute, King's College London, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RW. allan.pau@kcl.ac.uk
Unlabelled:
This paper reports an evaluation of dental practitioners with special interest (DPwSI) in minor oral surgery (MOS).
Objectives:
To: i) audit the appropriateness of referrals to a DPwSI-MOS service, ii) determine its cost-effectiveness, iii) gather the views of patients who had been treated, and iv) assess the referring dentists' views.
Methods:
Analysis of management information, telephone interviews with patients, postal questionnaire survey of referring dentist.
Results:
Of 83 referrals received, 51 (five for consultation and 46 for extractions) were seen by a DPwSI. The average waiting time between the referral and the treatment dates was 36 days. The cost of treating 51 cases was pound 8,020, compared to pound 43,608 under secondary care, a difference of pound 35,588 and a projected annual difference of pound 142,352. Eighteen patients were interviewed after attending for treatment. Most reported that they were seen within two weeks (ten, 57%) and four weeks (five, 28%) from the time they were referred. The majority (15, 83%) rated the service as good to excellent. Of the questionnaires mailed to 90 referring dentists, 45 (50%) were returned. Of the 40 (90%) dentists who reported being aware of the DPwSI-MOS, 24 (60%) reported having used the service.
Conclusions:
This pilot has demonstrated that the provision of MOS in the primary care setting by DPwSIs can provide a good service for patients, potentially improve access for patients, support patient management for referring dentists and reduce costs for the PCT.
