A Survey: How Periodontists and Other Dental Professionals View the Scope of Periodontics

Background: How do periodontists think of themselves when they define their practices? How do other dental professionals view the scope of the specialty of periodontology? A strong component of periodontal residency programs is extracting teeth and preserving or building bony ridges for the eventual...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of periodontology (1970) 2014-07, Vol.85 (7), p.925-933
Main Authors: Chang, Peter K., Hall, Joshua, Finkelman, Matthew, Park, Angel, Levi, Paul A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Attitude of Health Personnel
Cohort Studies
Data collection
dental hygienists
Dental Hygienists - education
Dental Hygienists - psychology
Dental Implantation
Dentistry
dentists
Dentists - psychology
Female
General Practice, Dental
Humans
Interprofessional Relations
Male
oral hygiene
Periodontal Diseases - therapy
Periodontics
Pilot Projects
Professional Role
referral and consultation
Self Concept
Students, Dental - psychology
Students, Health Occupations - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: How do periodontists think of themselves when they define their practices? How do other dental professionals view the scope of the specialty of periodontology? A strong component of periodontal residency programs is extracting teeth and preserving or building bony ridges for the eventual placement of implants. Has the discipline of periodontology moved away from retaining and treating the natural dentition? By the use of a rank‐order survey, the practice of periodontology was defined by periodontists and other dental professionals. Methods: In a pilot study, respondents were asked to list the answers to the question, “What is a periodontist?” The results were consolidated into eight statements. The eight statements were placed into an anonymous rank‐order survey, and more than 1,200 responses were returned. The responses primarily came from periodontists, hygienists, general practitioners, dental students, and dental hygiene students. Results: “Periodontists surgically treat advanced gum and bone infection problems” was considered the most important statement in all of the cohorts. The least important statement considered by all was, “Periodontists are educators promoting health.” Non‐periodontist dentists (NPDs) ranked the statement, “Periodontists perform dental implants and related procedures” less importantly (P
ISSN:0022-3492
1943-3670
DOI:10.1902/jop.2014.130482