title: A cross-sectional survey investigating the care of the primary dentition by general dental practitioners working in Japan and England.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare treatment decisions about primary dentistry made by Japanese and English general dental practitioners (GDPs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Four clinical scenarios were used to ascertain the clinical opinions of GDPs about what treatment to offer a 6-year-old boy with a carious molar. The first and second scenarios were a single distal and a distalocclusal cavity in a vital tooth without pain. The third was a large distal-occlusal cavity in a non-vital tooth without pain. The fourth was large distal-occlusal cavity in a non-vital tooth with pain. The participants were 234 GDPs in Japan and 322 GDPs in England.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the first scenario, 62.2% of Japanese GDPs preferred traditional restorative care compared with 34.7% of English GDPs. In the second scenario, Japanese participants were less likely to offer atraumatic treatment (16.5% vs. 34.9%). In the third scenario, Japanese dentists displayed a greater tendency to open the pulp chamber (55.2% vs. 7.6%). In the final scenario, 71% of Japanese GDPs would open the pulp chamber, whereas 50.3% of English GDPs favoured extraction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Japanese and English GDPs differed substantially in their views about the best treatment for a young child with a carious molar.
authors.affiliation: Fukui Institute of Health Science, Saitama, Japan. fukaik@fihs.org
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Blinkhorn
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D057087:Dental Atraumatic Restorative Treatment; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000379:methods*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011672:Pulpotomy; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous; D019553:Tooth, Nonvital / Q000473:pathology; D014098:Toothache / Q000628:therapy