Examination of the communication practices and preferences between orthodontists and general dentists

Abstract

EXAMINATION OF THE COMMUNICATION PRACTICES AND PREFERENCES BETWEEN ORTHODONTISTS AND GENERAL DENTISTS by Kevin R. Bibona, D.D.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Thesis Director: Bhavna Shroff, D.M.D., M.Dent.Sc. Program Director, Department of Orthodontics The purposes of this study were to evaluate if orthodontists’ and general dentists’ perceptions of how often, under what circumstances, and by which media orthodontists communicated with general dentists were similar, and to determine if orthodontists were meeting the communication needs of general dentists. Orthodontists (N=1,000) and general dentists (N=1,000) throughout the United States were randomly selected to participate in a web-based and mailed survey, respectively. The results indicated that the orthodontists communicated with general dentists using the type of media the general dentists preferred to use. As treatment complexity increased, orthodontists shifted from one-way forms of communication to two-way forms of communication (P < .05). Both orthodontists and general dentists reported that orthodontists’ communication regarding white spot lesions was inadequate. When treating patients with missing or malformed teeth, orthodontists reported they sought input from the general dentists at higher rate than the general dentists reported (P < .005).