title: Failed attendances at hospital dental clinics among young patients with cleft lip and palate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency of missed dental appointments among children with a cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P).
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study of failed appointments over a 12-month period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three different CL/P clinics within a British dental hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five CL/P children (mean age of 8.8 years) and 45 age-matched, gender-matched, and postal code-matched noncleft patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The overall percentage of missed appointments at three different clinics by CL/P patients and the difference in attendance rates at the pediatric dentistry clinic between CL/P and non-CL/P children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pediatric dentistry had the highest rate of missed appointments (22.4%), followed by the multidisciplinary cleft clinic (9.2%) and the orthodontic clinic (8.8%). CL/P patients missed a significantly greater proportion of their pediatric dentistry appointments than noncleft children (22.4% versus 11.9%). Patients with a bilateral CL/P were significantly more likely to miss an appointment than patients with a unilateral CL/P. Age, gender, medical history, and distance traveled had no significant effect on attendance rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further work is needed to identify risk factors for poor attendance and to develop strategies to reduce the frequency of missed appointments in this vulnerable group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Health and Development, University of Sheffield, UK. h.d.rodd@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: Helen D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Rodd
authors.forename: Emma L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Melanie R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000628:therapy; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000628:therapy; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*