Projects
006 – Diagnosis, treatment and maintenance of periodontal patients by general dentists
- Chief Investigator A: Prof Ivan Darby
- Chief Investigator B: Dr Denise Bailey
- Associate Investigators: Dr Bob Cvetkovic, Dr Ross Musolino, Dr Susan Wise, Dr Claudia Yung
- Research Collaborator: Dr Su-yan Barrow
- Support: Australian Society of Periodontology (Vic) and PEARL DPBRN for sharing study information for a comparative study
About
There are relatively few reports regarding periodontal therapies in the general dental practice setting. This project was a survey of Victorian dental practitioners to determine the criteria used to establish a periodontal diagnosis, what periodontal therapies are used and who subsequently provides periodontal therapies within general practices.
Aims
The project’s aims were to determine the criteria used in general practices to:
- Establish a diagnosis of health, gingivitis or mild, moderate or severe periodontitis
- Triage periodontal care of patients with periodontitis among the dental hygienist, general dentist and periodontist
- Determine the interval of maintenance and recall of patients after active periodontal therapy
Results
The project:
- Found that Victorian dentists who took part in this study are using the appropriate clinical parameters to diagnose periodontal disease
- Found that the diagnosis of periodontal disease by the practitioners that took part is generally accurate, but with a tendency to over-diagnose moderate periodontitis as severe
- Will help in understanding decision-making criteria used in practice regarding periodontal therapy
- Will aid the design of further studies looking at the effectiveness of the treatment of periodontal diseases
