| Title |
Knowledge, dentist confidence and management of periodontal patients among general dentists from Belarus, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova and Romania / |
| Authors |
Aleksejūnienė, Jolanta ; Pūrienė, Alina ; Rimkervicius, Arūnas ; Amariei, Corneliu ; Oancea, Roxana ; Porosencova, Tatiana ; Porosencov, Egor ; Nikolovska, Julijana ; Mirnaya, Elena ; Serova-Papakul, Aleksandra ; A. Eaton, Kenneth |
| DOI |
10.1186/s12903-020-1033-9 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
BMC oral health.. London : BioMed Central. 2020, vol. 20, art. no. 47, p. [1-9].. eISSN 1472-6831 |
| Keywords [eng] |
General dentists ; Periodontal patients ; Confidence ; Patient management |
| Abstract [eng] |
Background: Evidence concerning periodontal practice in Eastern European countries is scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate periodontal risk knowledge, patient management and self-perceived confidence among General Dentists (GDs) from five Eastern European regarding their provision of periodontal care. Methods: GDs from Belarus, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova and Romania participated in a questionnaire survey. Power calculations were used to identify the sample size for each country. The structured questionnaire included several domains of inquiry. The socio-demographic domain inquired about dentist’s age, gender and years of clinical experience. The dental practice domain inquired about practice location, practising or not practising in a group practice and having or not having a periodontist or a dental hygienist in the practice. The distributions of answers across-countries were compared employing one way ANOVA (comparison of means) or Chi square test (comparison of proportions). For each country, the predictors of the study outcomes: a summative knowledge score for periodontal risks and dentist’s confidence level were identified employing either linear or logistic multiple regression models. Results: The sample comprised 390 Belarussian, 488 Lithuanian, 349 Macedonian, 316 Moldovan, and 401 Romanian GDs. The majority of GDs (~ 80%) practiced in urban areas. Age and gender distributions differed significantly among countries. Significant across-country differences were found regarding working/not working in a group practice, having/not having access to a periodontist/dental hygienist and in proportions of patients receiving periodontal treatments or being referred to specialists. None of Macedonian patients nor the majority of Moldovan patients (78%) were referred to periodontists. There were also significant across-country differences in diagnosis, patient management and periodontal knowledge. Only in the Lithuanian cohort were dentists’ confidence levels associated significantly with their knowledge. In all countries, taking a medical history was a consistent and significant predictor of having higher periodontal knowledge score. Except in Belarus, periodontal risk assessment was a significantly consistent predictor of certainty levels associated with the provision of periodontal treatments. Conclusions: There were substantial differences among GDs in the five countries regarding diagnosis, dentist’s confidence and management of periodontal patients. |
| Published |
London : BioMed Central |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2020 |
| CC license |
|
