Effect of length of dental resident clinical rotations on patient behavior

The purpose of this retrospective chart review study was to determine if the length of residents' comprehensive dental care rotations in a general practice residency affected late cancellations, broken appointments, completion of treatment, timeliness of recall visits, emergency visits, and the need for redo of restorations and prostheses.

Patients who presented for comprehensive care from 2010 to 2013, during which residents had 3- to 4-month dental clinic rotations, comprised Group 1, and patients who presented for comprehensive care from 2013 to 2016, during which residents had 11-month dental clinic rotations, comprised Group 2. Subjects were excluded if they only presented for emergency care, they had only one visit, or their care was delivered in both time periods. There were 105 patients in Group 1 and 55 patients in Group 2.

The statistically significant results were that Group 1 patients had more late cancellations and broken appointments and failed to reach recall status more often than Group 2 patients, and that Group 1 patients had fewer emergency visits.

Within the limitations of this retrospective study, the results suggest that short block rotations have an adverse effect on resident experience and outcomes of patient care in a hospital outpatient setting.