title: Public knowledge of dental registration and management of common dental problems.
abstract: The government has recently changed its policy on dental registration. There is now a requirement to attend a dentist within 15 months of the previous appointment or dental registration will lapse. The authors of this article undertook a survey of the patients attending for dental treatment at the accident and emergency department of their hospital to ascertain whether inappropriate attendance was due to ignorance about general dental services. Of the 501 respondents 14% had not seen their general dental practitioner within the last 15 months and were therefore no longer registered--only 21% realized that they had to keep regular appointments or dental registration would lapse. A proportion (30%) had tried to contact the dentist outside normal working hours; 27% of these were unhappy with the outcome. Telephone calls were unanswered in 38% of those expressing dissatisfaction and 45% subsequently attended hospital for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Dental Services, Western Health and Social Services Board, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Spedding
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: McKinney
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: el-Attar
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: McGaffin
mesh_terms: D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006267:Health Education, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011639:Public Opinion; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013218:State Dentistry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom