Analysis of Dental Treatment Performed by Dental Residents at General Dentistry Department of Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital Over 6 Years Following Introduction of Mandatory Dental Clinical Training System

Abstract

Six years have passed since the introduction of legislation mandating at least 1 year of clinical training for those who have passed the national dentist examination. To determine whether clinical training has been appropriately implemented at the General Dentistry Department of Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital, a managed-type clinical training facility, the number of patients treated and types of dental and dental technical work performed by dental residents trained by the department were summarized and analyzed. The number of patients treated per dental resident increased from 11 in 2006 to 15 in 2011. By treatment type, periodontic treatment was the most frequently performed throughout the study period, followed by endodontic treatment. Conservation treatment, prosthodontic treatment with crowns/bridges, and prosthodontic treatment with dentures were performed at a similar moderate frequency, while oral surgical treatment was performed least frequently throughout the study period. The frequency of periodontic treatment increased slightly, whereas that of endodontic treatment decreased slightly or remained almost unchanged after introduction of the mandatory clinical training system. When the distribution of dental treatment performed at our department was compared with that of dental treatment performed by general dentists across Japan in 2011, our department showed a slightly lower frequency of periodontic treatment and higher frequency of endodontic treatment than the national total, whereas the frequency of other types of treatment was similar between the two populations. These results demonstrated that appropriate clinical training has been provided by our department to meet the purpose of offering dentists the opportunity to acquire the basic diagnostic and treatment abilities that would enable them to provide appropriate treatment for injuries and diseases frequently encountered in daily practice. The study also revealed some problems, such as a decreasing number of residents engaging in dental technical work each year. For additional improvement in the quality of dental clinical training, more analyses are needed to further identify and address potential problems in the system.