Comparisons between referred and non-referred patients to a university paediatric dental clinic

Referrals of paediatric patients to a university clinic have been increasing over the last several years.

To evaluate characteristics of referred and non-referred patients at the University of Iowa's Pediatric Dental Clinic (UIPDC).

A retrospective chart review included dental records of 340 referred and 383 non-referred patients from July 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016 (n = 723). Age, distance to the clinic, size of the patient's community, insurance, number of teeth with decay, treatment needs, educational level of the provider, and presence of patient special health care needs were obtained. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and multivariable logistic regression were performed to analyze the outcomes (alpha = .05).

Referred patients were more likely to live >60 miles away, live in a community of >75 000 people, have special health care needs, have caries/greater number of teeth with decay, need endodontic treatment, and were less likely to remain patients at the clinic (p < .0001). Referred patients were also more likely to need extractions (p = .0104), but less likely to need space maintenance/comprehensive orthodontic treatment (p = .0002).

There was a difference in the complexity of patient treatment needs between referred and non-referred patients.