Varibles Associated with Treatment Decisions in Cariology

Objetive To describe if there are any differences in restorative treatment decisions in cariology between the variables: Age, Sex, Years of clinical experience, Workplace and Exclusive care of children/adults. Materials and Methods The Spanish version of the “Questionnaire on the treatment of approximal and occlusal caries” was applied to a convenience sample of 129 dentists working at Primary Health Care Services in Chile. The questions were related to knowledge and beliefs about caries, treatment strategies and choice of dental materials. According to the final score of the questionnaire (Global Test), individuals were categorized as: Minimally Invasive or Invasive. Statistical analysis was performed using software STATA 10. For comparison of means (Years of clinical experience), t Student was used and for comparison of proportions (Age, Sex, Workplace and Exclusive care of children /adults) chi2 test was used. Results From a total of 129 dentists surveyed, 34.9% of them were characterized as Invasive, while 65.1% as Minimally Invasive. The average age for the Minimally Invasive group was 34.70 [CI 32.58 to 36.81] and for the Invasive group, 36.58 years [CI 33.56 to 39.58]. The assessment for sex revealed that 38.2% [CI 21.9%-54.6%] of men and 33.7% [CI 24.2%-43.2%] of women were considered Invasive. 51.1% [CI 36.8%-65.4%] of the dentists working exclusively at Primary Health Care Services (PHCS) was considered Invasive, whilst only the 25.6% [CI 16.2% -35.1%] of those working in PHCS and elsewhere, were considered in the same group (p <0.01). The average years of clinical experience in the Minimally Invasive group is 11.9 years [CI 9.8 to 14.1], whereas in the Invasive group is 13, 9 [CI 10.7 to 17, 2]. 30% [CI 17.3% - 42.7%] of dentists who treat children exclusively is considered Invasive, 38% [CI 27.3% -48.7 %] of those who treat children and adults, or adults solely, is considered Invasive. Conclusions Dentists working exclusively at Primary Health Care Services (PHCS) are more invasive than those that complement their work in other workplaces (private practice, armed forces, university) (p <0.01). The proportion of Invasive dentists is lower in the women's group, the group of dentists that treat children exclusively, and of those who graduated from university 14 years ago on average. The observed difference is not statistically significant for the aforementioned variables.