Treatment trends during a thirteen-year period in a student pediatric dentistry clinic

This manuscript reports the treatment trends in a pediatric dentistry clinic from 1980 to 1992 and discusses their implication in clinical teaching. Analysis of the records of the senior year pediatric dentistry students indicated: no significant change with time in the patients/student ratio, the number of preformed crowns, pulpotomies, and pulpectomies by student or by patient; a significant decrease in the number of one-surface and > or = 2-surface restorations by student and by patient; a significant increase in the number of pit-and-fissure sealants and preventive resin restorations by student and by patient. During the thirteen-year period, the students performed an average of 7.3 one-surface; 12.9 > or = 2-surface restorations; 5.5 preformed crowns; 6.4 pit-and-fissure sealants; 2.4 pulpotomies. There was a significant increase with time in the number of students who performed pit-and-fissure sealants.