Meeral P Rahmath, I Meignana Arumugham
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, IND.
Cureus. 2023 Dec 19;15(12):e50806. doi: 10.7759/cureus.50806. eCollection 2023 Dec.
Background and aim Assessing the priority of the patient towards dental needs while considering the distance traveled by them is important to improve a dental service. The purpose of this study was to rank the patients' felt needs for dental care in the private dental institution in order of importance. The objective is to count the number of patients with various major complaints and compare how far patients traveled for various treatment plans tailored to their individual needs in a private dental institution. Material and methods The sample consisted of all new patients who sought dental care at Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, India, between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022. Retrospective data from the dental information archive system was gathered on their primary chief complaint and residential address. Frequency distribution of patients with different chief complaints was found. The mean and standard deviation of distance traveled by patients for different treatment plans was done using descriptive statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22 (Released 2013; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). Results The priority order of the felt need by the patients was dental pain in which n=1299 (15.4%) > missing teeth with n=1224 (14.59%) > deposit/stains/halitosis n=1149 (13.6%) > shaking tooth n=936 (11.15%) > irregularly placed/proclined teeth n=852 (10.15%) > dislodged crown/restoration n=843 (10.05%) > tooth decay/discoloration n=759 (9%) > general checkup n=723 (8.6%) > swelling/ulcer/wound n=246 (2.93%) > painful jaw/facial pain/difficult mouth opening n=198 (2.26%). In 2022, most patients requiring caries preventive measure (0.8%) located at the mean distance of 10.75±2.2 km, while patients requiring scaling (16.9%), dental filling (10.9%), endodontic management (18.6%), extraction (23.7%), prosthetic replacement (13.9%), orthodontic management (10.9%), and facial pain management (2.2%) were located at the mean distance of 14.49±8.2 km, 10.28±6.25 km, 18.43±13.9 km, 14.29±6.6 km, 23.49±11.8 km, 11.76±8.13 km, and 45.32±17.35 km, respectively. Conclusion More number of patients traveled long distances even more than 50 km for painful tooth decay. Also, lots of patients were found to seek replacement of their missing teeth next to pain. Thus, dental pain and missing teeth form a major priority of the patient's felt dental need. Also, the patient had traveled a lot for facial pain management compared to other treatment needs which shows the lack of facial pain management practice by dental care centers near their local residence.
在评估患者对牙科需求的优先级时，考虑他们的行程距离对于改善牙科服务很重要。本研究的目的是对私立牙科机构中患者对牙科护理的感知需求按重要性进行排序。目标是统计有各种主要诉求的患者数量，并比较在私立牙科机构中，患者为满足其个体需求的各种治疗方案所行进的距离。
样本包括2022年1月1日至2022年12月31日期间在印度钦奈萨维塔牙科学院和医院寻求牙科护理的所有新患者。从牙科信息存档系统收集了关于他们的主要主诉和居住地址的回顾性数据。得出了不同主要诉求患者的频率分布。使用IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 22版（2013年发布；IBM公司，美国纽约州阿蒙克）通过描述性统计计算了患者为不同治疗方案所行进距离的均值和标准差。
患者感知需求的优先级顺序为：牙痛，n = 1299（15.4%）＞缺牙，n = 1224（14.59%）＞牙菌斑/污渍/口臭，n = 1149（13.6%）＞牙齿松动，n = 936（11.15%）＞牙齿排列不齐/前突，n = 852（10.15%）＞牙冠/修复体松动，n = 843（10.05%）＞龋齿/牙齿变色，n = 759（9%）＞常规检查，n = 723（8.6%）＞肿胀/溃疡/伤口，n = 246（2.93%）＞颌部疼痛/面部疼痛/张口困难，n = 198（2.26%）。2022年，大多数需要龋病预防措施的患者（0.8%）平均行程距离为10.75±2.2千米，而需要洗牙（16.9%）、补牙（10.9%）、根管治疗（18.6%）、拔牙（23.7%）、修复治疗（13.9%）、正畸治疗（10.9%）和面部疼痛治疗（2.2%）的患者平均行程距离分别为14.49±8.2千米、10.28±6.25千米、18.43±13.9千米、14.29±6.6千米、23.49±11.8千米、11.76±8.13千米和45.32±17.35千米。
更多患者为治疗龋齿行进了长距离，甚至超过50千米。此外，发现很多患者在牙痛之后寻求缺失牙的修复。因此，牙痛和缺牙构成了患者感知牙科需求的主要优先事项。而且，与其他治疗需求相比，患者为面部疼痛治疗行进了很远的距离，这表明其当地住所附近的牙科护理中心缺乏面部疼痛治疗服务。
