Concordance between responses to questionnaire scenarios and actual treatment to repair or replace dental restorations in the National Dental PBRN

Abstract

Objective To quantify the agreement between treatment recommended during hypothetical clinical scenarios and actual treatment provided in comparable clinical circumstances. Methods A total of 193 practitioners in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network participated in both a questionnaire and a clinical study. The questionnaire included three hypothetical scenarios about treatment of existing restorations. Clinicians then participated in a clinical study about repair or replacement of existing restorations. We quantified the overall concordance between their questionnaire responses and what they did in actual clinical treatment. Results Practitioners who recommended repair (instead of replacement) of more scenario restorations also had higher repair percentages in clinical practice. Additionally, for each of the three hypothetical scenario restorations, practitioners who recommended repair had higher repair percentages in clinical practice. Conclusions The questionnaire scenarios were a valid measure of clinicians’ tendency to repair or replace restorations in actual clinical practice. Clinical implications Although there was substantial variation in practitioners’ tendency to repair or replace restorations, responses to questionnaire scenarios by individual practitioners were concordant with what they did in actual clinical practice.

Opinions and Treatment Decisions for Dental Erosive Wear: A Questionnaire Survey among Icelandic Dentists

“…The second limitation is the nature of nonvalidated self-reports that may not reflect the actual behaviour. However, a relatively recent study has shown that there is a high concordance between questionnaire responses and actual treatment [ 18 ].…”

Prescription Drug Abuse Among Patients in Rural Dental Practices Reported by Members of the National Dental PBRN

“…While this proportion of rural dentists was slightly less than previous HRSA estimates of the percentage of dentists practicing in rural areas (14%), it was consistent with other national estimates and the National Dental PBRN representation of rural dentists (and Funkhouser E, Barna J, Durand S, et al, unpublished data, 2019). Finally, although several National Dental PBRN studies demonstrate that member dentists report patterns of diagnosis and treatment that are similar to patterns of nonmember dentists, dentists who enroll in the National Dental PBRN may have key differences from nonenrolled dentists that may impact generalizability of findings …”

“…Finally, although several National Dental PBRN studies demonstrate that member dentists report patterns of diagnosis and treatment that are similar to patterns of nonmember dentists, dentists who enroll in the National Dental PBRN may have key differences from nonenrolled dentists that may impact generalizability of findings. [34][35][36][37]…”

Objective criteria for assessment of the quality of dental restorations improve student’s critics towards the treatment assignment: a randomized controlled trial

“…Still, the baseline percentage of correct assignments of 30% revealed the lack of familiarity with systematic criteria. Other studies have highlighted the disparity in dentists' decisions with respect to their diagnostic measures 17 and restorative treatment decisions 10,19 . Regardless, most students had to decide whether to maintain a dental restoration at least once a month in their practice routine.…”

“…It is common for a clinician to decide the replacement of the restoration when he or she recognizes it as deviating from the ideal. For instance, the replacement of restorations is by far the most common restorative procedure and is driven mainly by the clinical diagnosis of caries 3 , despite the clinical judgment of the presence of caries being reported as highly inconsistent among dentists 10 .…”