Regulatory Affairs Syndicator

Radiographic selection protocol for new and recall patients in U.S. and Canadian dental schools.

J Can Dent Assoc. 1995 Nov;61(11):975-8, 983-4

Authors: Hubar JS, Cresson RJ

This study indicates that a growing number of dental schools are now using individual selection criteria to determine which radiographs, if any, are required for screening new and recall patients. A majority of Canadian schools are in compliance with CDA’s Guidelines For the Control Of Radiation In the Dental Office, which state that the frequency of radiological examination is a matter of clinical judgment, and that it should not be considered as a routine procedure. In general, most schools support the use of individual selection criteria prior to requesting radiographs. The results of this study also indicate that more U.S. dental schools now follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommendations on radiation exposure than at any other time in history. However, both the FDA recommendations and the American Association of Dental Schools’ guidelines for prescribing radiographs are only recommendations, which are subject to clinical judgment, and may not be applied universally to all patients.

PMID: 8521326 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Ontario dentists: 2. Bitewing utilization and restorative treatment decisions.

J Can Dent Assoc. 1993 Jan;59(1):68-70, 73-5

Authors: Swan ES, Lewis DW

Guidelines for the selection of patients requiring radiological examination have recently been published in Canada and the United States. The purpose of this paper, the second in a three-part series on the results of a questionnaire to Ontario general practitioners, is to compare bitewing use in Ontario against the U.S. guidelines. This questionnaire determined the frequency of recall bitewing examination for low and high caries risk patients, as well as the factors that influence the diagnostic and treatment decisions of the responding dentists. For example, 49 to 78 per cent of dentists order recall bitewings–in accordance with U.S. guidelines–for their patients in individual low caries risk categories. Similarly, 49 to 88 per cent of dentists order recall bitewings for individual patients in high caries risk categories, which is also consistent with the U.S. guidelines. However, across all low and high caries risk groups of patients, the percentages of dentists who followed the recommended guidelines were 34 and 15 per cent, respectively. The responding dentists’ estimates of the length of time required for caries to progress through enamel are indirectly associated with the interval prescribed for recall bitewing examination.

PMID: 8443704 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]