Predictors of Norwegian dentists' decisions to recommend replacement of teeth at the time of extraction.
OBJECTIVE
To study predictors of dentists' recommendations to replace the teeth which they extracted for adult patients in Norway in 1998.


METHODS
Cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey.


METHODS
A systematic random sample of 1,500 Norwegian general dental practitioners and response rate of 67% after two reminders. After exclusions, 302 dentists who had extracted 822 permanent teeth for 587 patients (16-92 years old) over a period of two weeks, were accepted for the study.


RESULTS
According to the dentists, 30% of the patients were in definite need of a replacement for the extracted tooth or teeth, 29% were cases open to question and 41% had no need for a replacement. Model I: Tooth type extracted and the number of teeth extracted per patient were the most important predictors of the dentists definitely recommending a replacement after tooth extraction. Model II: When including the group of patients for whom a replacement was open to question, the odds of the dentists recommending a replacement for having an extracted anterior tooth or premolar increased from 13 (95% CI 6.16, 26.07) to 21 (95% CI 10.51, 40.69). Demographic characteristics had no significant effect on the dentists' decision.


CONCLUSIONS
The two most important predictors for recommending a replacement after extraction were the position of the tooth or teeth and the number of teeth extracted. The reason why the number of remaining teeth had no significant independent effect was possibly because this group of patients had a relatively high number of natural teeth.
Trovik
Tordis A
TA
Department of Odontology-Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Bergen, Norway.
Klock
Kristin S
KS
Haugejorden
Ola
O
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D017266:Dental Prosthesis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D016017:Odds Ratio; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011331:Private Practice; D011379:Prognosis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*