Oral surgery waiting lists at an Australian university dental school

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the waiting times experienced by patients referred to an Australian University oral surgery clinic over a 2‐year period. Materials and method A single‐centre retrospective study was conducted to determine the waiting times for oral surgery services at the Griffith University postgraduate clinic. The first 233 patients were selected out of a total of 587 randomised patients and data collected regarding referral sources, procedures undertaken and the number of days from referral to consultation, then to treatment collected from the clinic's management software. Results Of the 233 referrals, 121 were female (52%) and 112 male (48%). Many patients were between 20 and 29 years representing approximately 40% (n = 93) of the sample. Analyses of referred patients showed that a significant number of public (i.e. non‐private‐paying) patients (73%, n = 170) were treated in the study period. Most patients waited only 1–2 weeks to be seen for a consultation from date of referral and treatment from date of consultation. Nearly half (49.7%, n = 116) were treated within 2 months of being referred. Once the patient was referred, the overall mean waiting time was 44 days from referral to treatment. Treatment comprised of either procedures undertaken under local anaesthesia (LA) (76.7%, n = 179) or consultations only with patients either declining treatment, deemed not in need of surgical intervention, or referred for more advanced management such as the need for general anaesthesia (23.3%, n = 54). Surgical removal of third molars (36.1%, n = 84) was the most common reason for referral. Conclusion A variety of minor oral surgery procedures can be provided under local anaesthesia with acceptable accessibility and shorter public oral surgery waiting lists.

Medical profile of patients referred to an Australian postgraduate oral surgery clinic

“…Approximately a third (33.0%) of all patients in this study could be considered to be multimorbid, constituting over half (57.9%) of all patients with medical conditions. This was a higher prevalence than that in the general Australian population (20%) in 2017-2018 (36) and likely reflects the aggregation of referrals for medically complex patients to the postgraduate oral surgery clinic, as well as the intersection of the socioeconomic determinants of health, multimorbidity, and poor oral health (Arora et al, 2023;Frydrych et al, 2020;Watt & Serban, 2020).…”

“…Students undertaking their primary dental degree have been observed to be lacking adequate knowledge over the medical conditions of their patients and managing them appropriately in the oral surgery setting (Dennis et al, 2017 ; Emam et al, 2018 ). It is therefore not surprising that complex patient medical histories are commonly cited reasons for referral to more experienced clinicians (Arora et al, 2023 ). This naturally extends into their careers as general dental practitioners, especially those without further training in minor oral surgery (Cottrell et al, 2007 ; Coulthard et al, 2000 ).…”