Dentists' perception of their treatment practices versus documented evidence.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the quality of real-life treatment practices to dentists' perceptions of treatment rendered.


METHODS
One administrative unit of the Finnish public oral health service.


METHODS
The original oral health records of a randomly selected sample of young adults who received treatment during 1994-1996 provided data on actual clinical examinations (n=208), radiographs (n=312), and root canal treatment courses (n=148) carried out by 50 dentists. Dentists' perceptions of the treatment rendered were obtained through a structured questionnaire completed during their working hours in 1996.


METHODS
Criteria for assessing the quality of treatment practices were based on Finnish health legislation, authoritative instructions, and consensus reports.


RESULTS
Based on responses, 77% of the dentists followed the prevailing instructions on oral health record keeping (82%, if partial agreement included). Most dentists (88% fully agreed, 95% at least partly) perceived that their knowledge gained through continuing education was being applied in practice; no one answered no. A gap was found between dentists' perception of the treatment rendered and everyday treatment practices as recorded on patient documents.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, dentists' perception of the quality of their treatment practices exceeded that found in patient documents. This gap deserves consideration while planning research, education, or quality-improvement projects that relate to dentists' opinions.
Helminen
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SE
Department of Oral Public Health, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Finland. sari.helminen@helsinki.fi
Vehkalahti
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Murtomaa
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D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003729:Dental Care; D003792:Dental Records; D003815:Dentists; D004498:Education, Dental, Continuing; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007879:Legislation, Dental; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011861:Radiography, Dental; D012390:Root Canal Therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires