The chief scientist reports ... An analysis of patients attending two emergency dental clinics in Edinburgh.
Two studies of self-referred patients attending emergency dental clinics in Edinburgh have shown that almost half of the patients have been to the dentist in the last year and 60% had routine treatment on their last dental visit. Despite this contact with dental services, over 40% of patients with a dental emergency who attend the emergency dental clinics say that they do so because of actual or perceived difficulty in obtaining immediate care from the general dental services. Some 17% attend the clinics for reasons of convenience and 19% of patients attend the emergency clinic at the Dental Hospital because they prefer to be treated in a 'centre of excellence'. In September 1994 the School of Dentistry is to close and the Dental Hospital relocated. Changes may have to be made to the organisation of general dental practice in the Edinburgh area to accommodate patients with a dental emergency. The majority of emergency dental patients in Edinburgh are not put off attending for the relief of their problem by the cost of National Health Service treatment.
Holmes
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003740:Dental Clinics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012606:Scotland