Objectives: To report the methods used to prevent or treat dental caries in adult patients by dentists across the Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN; www.DPBRN.org). DPBRN is a group of outpatient dental practices that have affiliated to investigate research questions, and that comprises 5 regions: AL/MS: Alabama/Mississippi; FL/GA: Florida/Georgia; HP/MN: dentists employed by HealthPartners and in private practice from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area; PDA: Permanente Dental Associates in cooperation with Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research; and SK: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Methods: A survey of methods used to prevent dental caries in adult patients was sent to all DPBRN dentists who reported doing at least some restorative dentistry(n=915). The survey asked for what percentage of adult patients dentists administer or recommend specific caries prevention agents (sealants, fluoride, chlorhexidine, sugarless gum) in their practices. Differences were tested between geographic regions and practice model. Treatment regimen may differ by geographic location or according to type of practice, such as private, HMO, or a publicly-funded oral health care system.
Results: In-office fluoride and over-the-counter fluoride were the most commonly reported methods of caries prevention, whereas chlorhexidine and sugarless gum were recommended less often across all groups. Differences across the groups were as follows: sealants were used most often by dentists in the PDA group and least often by the SK group. In-office fluoride was used most often by PDA dentists and least by HP/MN dentists. HP/MN had a strong preference for prescription fluoride, AL/MS, FL/GA, and SK had a moderate preference, and PDA prescribed fluoride as often as they recommended over-the-counter fluoride.
Conclusion: The use of caries prevention varies by geographic region, with the US groups using more in-office treatments than SK, and the HMO groups recommending more out-of-office treatments than other groups. Support: DE 16746, DE 16747.