TY - JOUR
T1 - Dutch dentists' decisions to take bitewing radiographs
AU - Mileman, Philip
AU - Van der Weele, Leo
AU - Van de Poel, Fons
AU - Purdell-Lewis, David
PY - 1988/12
Y1 - 1988/12
N2 - A postal questionnaire was sent to a 10% (n = 444) national random sample of Dutch dental practitioners. The response was 77% (n = 344). The practitioners prescribed bitewings on average for 57% of “new” 25‐yr‐old patients. Five significant (P < 0.05) variables explained 24% of the variation in bitewing prescribing for these “new” patients. These were, in declining level of importance: the initial dental condition of the patient, the proportion of restorative treatment decisions based solely on radiographs, the level of urbanization of the practice location, the technical level of the practice equipment and the importance attached by dentists to the diagnostic use of dental floss for imerproximal caries diagnosis. The low power of the regression model in explaining variation in the decision to take bitewings indicates an idiosyncratic use of bitewing radiographs for caries diagnosis. A weak tendency to adopt different diagnostic sets of procedures was demonstrated.
AB - A postal questionnaire was sent to a 10% (n = 444) national random sample of Dutch dental practitioners. The response was 77% (n = 344). The practitioners prescribed bitewings on average for 57% of “new” 25‐yr‐old patients. Five significant (P < 0.05) variables explained 24% of the variation in bitewing prescribing for these “new” patients. These were, in declining level of importance: the initial dental condition of the patient, the proportion of restorative treatment decisions based solely on radiographs, the level of urbanization of the practice location, the technical level of the practice equipment and the importance attached by dentists to the diagnostic use of dental floss for imerproximal caries diagnosis. The low power of the regression model in explaining variation in the decision to take bitewings indicates an idiosyncratic use of bitewing radiographs for caries diagnosis. A weak tendency to adopt different diagnostic sets of procedures was demonstrated.
U2 - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1988.tb00584.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1988.tb00584.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0301-5661
VL - 16
SP - 368
EP - 373
JO - Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology
JF - Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology
IS - 6
ER -