Madani Seyedeh-Mahshad, Eslamipour Faezeh, Sadeghian Saeid, Tahani Bahareh
Dental Students' Research Committee, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Department of Oral Public Health, Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, Dental Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Dent Res J (Isfahan). 2023 Aug 28;20:93. eCollection 2023.
Since general dentists (GDs) usually act as the primary referral source for the patients in need of orthodontic treatments, having the proper knowledge and understanding of the accurate diagnosis of clinical situations is very important. The aim of this study was to assess GDs about the identification of orthodontic treatment needs and their referral practices.
This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was carried out in Iran 2020. A questionnaire consisting of three main parts was designed and distributed electronically among GDs. The first section included 11 image and scenario-based questions meant to assess the ability of GDs to correctly diagnose the orthodontic treatment needs of the patients. The next two parts were to assess the dentists' knowledge of the necessity of referral to an orthodontist with 11 questions, and the proper timing of orthodontic treatments with 8 questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26, by conducting Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and correlation tests α = 0.05.
Among 384 participated dentists, 50.3% (193) were female. The mean score of knowledge was 17.3 ± 3.5 out of 30. The highest percentage of good knowledge (70% of range) was related to the diagnosis of orthodontic problems, while the lowest one belonged to the referring pattern. There was a weak positive correlation between the working experience and the proper timing of referral ( = 0.15, = 0.004 (. Kruskal-Wallis test also showed a significant difference between the total knowledge scores ( = 0.04) and the knowledge of the proper timing of treatment ( = 0.04) based on the age groups of participants. Eighty-seven percentage ( = 334) reported that they would refer the patients in need of orthodontic treatment.
The knowledge level of orthodontic treatment needs among GDs was moderate, thus emphasizing the importance of planning more educational courses for them to improve their knowledge, thus reducing the possible detriments of postponed or inaccurate treatments.
由于普通牙医通常是需要正畸治疗患者的主要转诊来源，因此对临床情况进行准确诊断并具备相关知识和理解非常重要。本研究的目的是评估普通牙医对正畸治疗需求的识别能力及其转诊行为。
本描述性分析横断面研究于2020年在伊朗开展。设计了一份包含三个主要部分的问卷，并以电子方式分发给普通牙医。第一部分包括11个基于图像和场景的问题，旨在评估普通牙医正确诊断患者正畸治疗需求的能力。接下来的两部分分别通过11个问题评估牙医对转诊给正畸医生必要性的了解，以及通过8个问题评估正畸治疗的合适时机。使用SPSS 26进行数据分析，采用曼-惠特尼检验、克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验和相关性检验，α = 0.05。
在384名参与研究的牙医中，50.3%（193名）为女性。知识平均得分为30分中的17.3 ± 3.5分。对正畸问题诊断的良好知识比例最高（占范围的70%），而最低的是转诊模式。工作经验与合适的转诊时机之间存在弱正相关（r = 0.15，P = 0.004）。克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验还显示，根据参与者的年龄组，总知识得分（P = 0.04）和治疗合适时机的知识（P = 0.04）之间存在显著差异。87%（n = 334）的牙医报告称他们会转诊需要正畸治疗的患者。
普通牙医对正畸治疗需求的知识水平中等，因此强调为他们安排更多教育课程以提高其知识水平的重要性，从而减少延迟或不准确治疗可能带来的危害。
