title: Periodontal Examination Profiles and Treatment Approaches of a Group of Turkish General Dentists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the periodontal examination profiles and treatment approaches of a group of Turkish general dentists.
  
  
  METHODS
  457 general dentists were called and 173 dentists agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire comprised 10 questions including gender, years of experience, periodontal probing during examination, oral hygiene motivation methods (do you perform, yes/no; the oral hygiene motivation method; verbal expression or using visual materials), periodontal treatments (supragingival scaling, subgingival scaling and planing or surgery) and knowledge about diagnosis and treatment for aggressive and chronic periodontitis. The participants were grouped according to their years of clinical experience: group 1: 0 to 10 years of clinical practice (n = 58); group 2: 10 to 20 years (n = 68); group 3: >20 years (n = 47).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 'periodontal probing' performance percentages were 70.69%, 26.47% and 40.43% in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The oral hygiene motivation rate was high in the first 10 years of clinical practice (60.3%). In addition, 72.4% of the dentists in group 1 used visual materials in addition to verbal expression during oral hygiene motivation. 72.25% of the general dentists performed supragingival scaling. The knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of chronic periodontitis was present in >90% of the dentists surveyed. In contrast, >50% of the general dentists were not knowledgeable in the diagnosis and treatment of aggressive periodontitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Periodontal probing is a gold standard for periodontal diagnosis, but as the dentists' clinical experience increases, the frequency of its performance decreases. The percentage of the knowledge and treatment of chronic periodontitis is higher than that of aggressive periodontitis. Postgraduate education in periodontology is important to keep general dentists up to date on current periodontal practice and improve awareness of periodontal diseases.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.forename: Cihan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.forename: Cansu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uzun
authors.forename: Mümün
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
mesh_terms: D010520:Aggressive Periodontitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D012534:Dental Scaling / Q000379:methods; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D010517:Periodontics / Q000193:education; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D016745:Root Planing / Q000379:methods; D013357:Subgingival Curettage / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey