title: Telephone review after minor oral surgery.
abstract: An audit of outpatient clinic attendances at Cardiff Dental Hospital (between September 2009 and March 2010) showed that 30% of patients failed to attend review appointments after minor operations. To reduce rates of non-attendance we set up a system of telephone review in March 2010. Patients were given a telephone appointment two weeks after their minor operation (mainly removal of lower third molars), instead of an appointment at the outpatient clinic. A trained nurse contacted each patient to complete a structured questionnaire that included questions about numbness, pain, and swelling. During the first year of the project, 1020 patients were booked for telephone review and of these 90% were discharged. 674 (66%) were discharged after telephone review, and 245 (24%) were not contactable. A total of 101 patients (10%) were brought in for clinic review because they reported complications. Estimated staff costs per patient for telephone review and clinic review were £3.05 and £23.55 respectively. Telephone review resulted in a significant reduction in the number of patients who failed to attend the clinic (OR=0.88, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.96) and facilitated audit of complications. The use of telephone review in conjunction with clinical follow-up for those with postoperative problems allows for cost-effective care with reduced rates of non-attendance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY. Electronic address: wellsjp@cardiff.ac.uk.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Roked
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sivarajasingam
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D006801:Humans; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017010:Reminder Systems; D013689:Telephone
keywords: Minor Oral Surgery; Telephone review; Virtual Clinic