Quality management by benchmarking in dental practice

The information for public health planners were based on epidemiological studies. Presently, there are no comparisons of data from dental practices and oral health surveys. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop an instrument for quality management in dental practices based on a cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study in North-East Germany (Study of Health in Pomerania, SHIP-0) using nomograms. Methods: Dental status was derived from patients' files in a selected private dental practice in North-East Germany. Participants were randomly drawn by age (aged 20-75 years) and gender. Tooth loss was presented in nomograms. Results: The data of 215 patients (105 males and 110 females) from a private dental practice and 3990 participants (1946 males and 2044 females) from SHIP-0 were compared by age using Mann-Whitney-U-Test. Significant differences according to the number of teeth were shown in the age group 35-39 years (Median=27, IQR=5 in dental practice and Median=24, IQR=5 in SHIP-0, p=0,001), age group 40-44 years (Median=25.5, IQR=3.75 vs. Median=23, IQR=6.3, p=0,003), and age group 65-69 age years (Median=21.5, IQR=10.25 vs. Median=8, IQR=17,p< 0,001). Conclusions: This study confirms the value of nomograms to compare tooth loss between a private dental practice and a population-based study as a tool of quality management. The visualisation by using nomograms can help in decision making for dental treatment. However, it is shown that the patient's socio-economic status has to be considered in the construction of nomograms in order to assure the validity of any comparison.