What a prosthodontist does

Abstract

A mail survey of 320 diplomates of the American Board of Prosthodontics produced responses from 274. Of these, 196 reported one or more patient-related procedures on the survey day. The responses were analyzed by type of procedure and by prosthodontic classification of the problem (fixed, removable, or unclassified). More than 63 per cent of all prosthodontic time reported was classified in the category of removable prosthodontics. Virtually all prosthodontists surveyed (94.9 per cent) reported at least one procedure classified as removable prosthodontics. A majority (58.0 per cent) also reported one or more procedures classified as fixed prosthodontics. Unexpected concentrations of time and failures to produce expected concentrations of time were identified, and the implications for advanced education were discussed. Different patterns of time concentration in fixed and removable prosthodontics were also identified which suggest possible curricular differences for these subspecialties.