The purpose of this study was to determine what factors influence dentists when deciding whether to place an implant or perform endodontic retreatment. Null hypothesis: Dentists today are no more likely to place an implant than to perform endodontic retreatment. A twelve-item questionnaire was mailed to 525 general dentists and specialists who are members of the Richmond Dental Society. Response rate was 61.9%. The questionnaire included items on demographics, practice profile and cases of failing endodontic therapy which participants were asked to consider and chose between endodontic retreatment or implant placement. The relationship between the treatment choices and the characteristics of each dentist was assessed using a chi-square analyses and logistic regression analyses. Generally practitioners preferred retreatment (66%). This preference for retreatment varied between 25.5% and 85.9%. Associations were found between years of experience and implant use. In those practitioners with 10 years or less experience the odds of choosing an implant were higher than practitioners with more than 10 years of experience. Associations were also found between those who place implants vs. those who do not. The odds of choosing an implant verses retreatment were lower in those who did not place implants versus those who did. In conclusion, it appears that clinicians participating in this study in general still consider endodontic retreatment to be a viable treatment option prior to implant placement. However, this varies greatly with years of experience and the use of implants in practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2047 |
| Date | 01 January 2008 |
| Creators | Packer, Gardiner McKay |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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