Oral Health Maintenance Clinic: a Five Year Perspective

The University of Florida, College of Dentistry innovated and initiated the Oral Health Maintenance Program and Clinic in 1999 with the purpose of unifying the existing fragemented recall or recare system. Objectives: Provision of ongoing dental care to completed comprehensive care patients in a "home" clinic; creation of a teaching and learning environment for student critical thinking and clinical judgement skills that are transferable to the "real world"; provision of a mechanism for quality assurance and outcomes assessments. Methods: Program assessment includes results of patient satisfaction surveys, student evaluations of clinical experience, senior student exit interviews, evaluation of program success through the ongoing clinical database; results of dental program accreditation site visit. Results: Assessment and evaluation of program success indicates that between 85% to 90% of completed comprehensive care patients choose to remain in the maintenance program and have favorable responses on the satisfaction surveys; student surveys and interviews indicate a high level of practical clinical application and learning; the clinical database indicates that the program has grown to include approximately 4000 maintenance and limited care patients; the Oral Health Maintenance Program and the college's Quality Assurance Program received commendations from the ADA accreditation site visit committee. Conclusion: A five year perspective of the Oral Health Maintenance Program indicates that the goals and objectives have been successfully achieved. Future goals for the clinical program include modification of designated services provided by the clinic to meet patient needs; refinement of clinical activities to support student learning and competencies; ongoing quality assurance assessment of patient satisfaction, student learning, and the provision of dental treatment.