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Space maintenance treatment planning for pediatric patients

University of British Columbia

Objective: The current study examined differences in treatment planning for space maintenance between pediatric dentists and general dentists. Methods: Two online self-administered electronic questionnaires were developed and administered by the UBC Qualtrics Survey software. One was a 32-question questionnaire that was administered to 1640 general dentists, and the other was a 31-question questionnaire that was administered to 41 pediatric dentists registered with the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia, Canada. The questionnaires consisted of three clinical case scenarios regarding space management in pediatric patients. The assessments on space maintenance treatment planning were based on the following cases: 1. Extraction of tooth #7.4 in primary dentition; 2. Extraction of tooth #7.5 in primary dentition; and 3. Premature loss of tooth #7.3 in mixed dentition. The survey also acquired information about the practitioners` demographics and their knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards space maintenance for each specific case. Statistical analysis was conducted using the independent sample t-test, Mann Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and Fischer’s exact test. Results: The response rate for general dentists was 20.3% (n=320), and for the pediatric dentists it was 56.1% (n=23). The majority of general dentists (76.7%, n=244), and all pediatric dentists (100%, n=23) chose to place a band and loop appliance after extraction of tooth #7.4. The majority in both groups selected to place a distal shoe appliance after extraction of tooth #7.5 (59.2%, n=189 of general dentists and 78.3%, n=18 of pediatric dentists), and both general (59.6%, n= 189) and pediatric (69.6%, n=16) dentists selected that they would consider an orthodontic consultation for the case about the premature loss of tooth #7.3. Differences in attitudes about their dental school/residency training were the strongest determinant associated with treatment planning. There were no statistically significant differences in mean total knowledge scores between the pediatric and general dentists. Conclusions: Space maintenance treatment planning is multifactorial; however, differences in attitudes towards the practitioners’ training strongly associated with their decision making.

Text

2020-04-21

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74069

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/