title: Endodontic retreatment decision making among a group of general practitioners.
abstract: Large interindividual variations have been demonstrated when dentists suggest clinical management of endodontically treated teeth. Since variations also have been shown in radiographic diagnosis of the periapical tissues, a hypothesis was tested that explains variation in treatment as a function of variation in diagnosis. Fifty-four general practitioners suggested diagnosis and management of 32 endodontically treated roots. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient reached 0.298 when the examiners were definitely sure of the presence of a periapical lesion, and 0.356 when probable lesions also were included. Conclusively, the hypothesis seemed to have a limited value in explaining why dentists carry out retreatment. Instead a multi-aspect approach to this problem is suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Odontology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reit
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Gröndahl
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003657:Decision Making; D004989:Ethics; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D010483:Periapical Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D013548:Sweden