A cross-sectional survey investigating the care of the primary dentition by general dental practitioners working in Japan and England.

OBJECTIVE

To compare treatment decisions about primary dentistry made by Japanese and English general dental practitioners (GDPs).

METHOD

Four clinical scenarios were used to ascertain the clinical opinions of GDPs about what treatment to offer a 6-year-old boy with a carious molar. The first and second scenarios were a single distal and a distalocclusal cavity in a vital tooth without pain. The third was a large distal-occlusal cavity in a non-vital tooth without pain. The fourth was large distal-occlusal cavity in a non-vital tooth with pain. The participants were 234 GDPs in Japan and 322 GDPs in England.

RESULTS

In the first scenario, 62.2% of Japanese GDPs preferred traditional restorative care compared with 34.7% of English GDPs. In the second scenario, Japanese participants were less likely to offer atraumatic treatment (16.5% vs. 34.9%). In the third scenario, Japanese dentists displayed a greater tendency to open the pulp chamber (55.2% vs. 7.6%). In the final scenario, 71% of Japanese GDPs would open the pulp chamber, whereas 50.3% of English GDPs favoured extraction.

CONCLUSION

Japanese and English GDPs differed substantially in their views about the best treatment for a young child with a carious molar.