A method for retrieving dental case records for epidemiological investigations

Objective: There are occasions when for public health purposes it is important to be able to recover records of dental treatment to undertake epidemiological investigations into possible transmission events of infectious agents. A risk assessment by the Department of Health (2006) concluded that, given the existence of a carrier state, a self sustaining epidemic of vCJD via dentistry was feasible. It is therefore important to exclude dental treatment as a risk factor for vCJD. The objective of this study was to examine risk of vCJD from dentistry. The aim of this abstract is to describe the potential for recovering dental treatment records directly from dental practitioners and centrally held dental treatment records (Dental Estimates Board) as a part of this study.

Methods: Cases of vCJD (n= 161) and controls (n~500) with appropriate consent were included in the study. Dental case records were accessed via two methods 1. Direct contact of general dental practitioners

2. Record tracing through Regional Dental estimate boards

Results: Currently, the success rate for retrieval of dental records from cases is 53% (n=87) and for controls is 87% (n=427). The lower success rate for cases is attributable to the period of time from diagnosis of disease to the start of this study. Over 10 years in some cases.

Conclusion: It is challenging to obtain dental treatment records especially since dental records do not follow the patient. A combination of two methods is required to achieve reasonable success rates. Consideration should be given to modernising dental treatment record information that can be used for epidemiological purposes over long periods of time.

Funding Information:

Funders: Department of Health 007/0169