title: Preferences and flexibility in decision-making among dental clinicians regarding the treatment of multirooted teeth: an interactive communication device-based survey at two academic conferences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Decision-making by dental and medical experts can be influenced by their biases, interests, and experiences, and academic arguments about controversial issues may additionally be considered indirect experiences capable of affecting decision-making. This study reports on the use of interactive communication devices to evaluate preferences and flexibility in decision-making among dental care providers who attended two distinct academic conferences.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two debates were presented by a team of two lecturers at two academic conferences (focusing on periodontology and implant dentistry, respectively) and the audience members of each session were surveyed. Before each lecture, two case modules about the diagnosis and treatment of multirooted molar lesions were provided, and interactive communication devices were used to collect responses about decision-making preferences in treatment planning immediately before and after a debate about treatment strategies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 81 and 84 completed answers from both conferences were obtained for the first and second case modules, respectively. The preferred treatment plan differed significantly according to the focus of the conference, and a tendency emerged for the clinicians participating in each conference to express uniform preferences. However, attending the debates resulted in significant changes in decision-making preferences regardless of the conference focus or the characteristics of the participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that providing continuing education via debates on controversial issues may be effective in widening conceptual knowledge and reducing biases among experts in the dental and medical fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Institute for Periodontal Regeneration, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Jung-Seok
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1276-5978
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Kyung Hee University School of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Hyun-Chang
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7695-1708
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Institute for Periodontal Regeneration, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Min-Soo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5838-0902
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Institute for Periodontal Regeneration, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Seong-Ho
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6704-6124
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Institute for Periodontal Regeneration, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Ui-Won
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6371-4172
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Jung
keywords: Clinical protocols; Continuing dental education; Decision making; Dental implants; Periodontics