How Dental PBRN Dentists Diagnose and Treat Existing Restorations

Objective: to report what approach is used most commonly by Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) dentists to treat existing restorations that may or may not have secondary caries. DPBRN is a group of outpatient dental practices that have affiliated to investigate research questions (n=1166). DPBRN comprises 5 participating groups: AL/MS: Alabama/Mississippi, FL/GA: Florida/Georgia, HP/MN: dentists employed by HealthPartners and from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, PDA: Permanente Dental Associates in cooperation with Kaiser Permanente Northwest Research Foundation, and SK: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Methods: A survey was sent to all DPBRN member dentists who perform restorative dentistry in their practices (n=915). Photographs of various existing restorations were included and dentists were asked what treatment(s) they thought were necessary. Treatment options varied from no treatment to full replacement of the restoration. Various preventive therapies were also included. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the relationships between the treatment options chosen and dentists and practice characteristics. Results: 532 DPBRN members responded. Remarkable differences were found for the type of restorative material used on the existing restoration (composite versus amalgam) and the type of margin where the restoration was located (enamel versus dentinal margins). DPBRN dentists from the AL/MS and FL/GA regions chose the restorative option significantly more often than dentists from the HP/MN, PDA, and SK regions (p<.0001). Dentists who assessed caries risk as part of treatment planning chose the prevention treatment more often than dentists who did not (p=.0089). Conclusion: Treatment options chosen by participating dentists varied according to the specific case scenario, the use of caries risk assessment, and participating region. Support: U01-DE-16746, U01-DE-16747.