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ced at both universities in
ins to instrument a molar,
the shaping. To complete
they used at least three
j and seemingly irrational
5ulting in short treatment
1osed by the remuneration
lanish Dental Association
l (where the fixed fee for
rnbly decreased the timesystem
that could give an
n be introduced reflecting
id that the change of the
,d in a reduced number of
~d (Study VI).
al. 1997, Hall et al. 2002, Rater et al. 2002), demonstrates the importance of the
patient-doctor communication, where more patient-centred communication was found
amongst female doctors (Levinson et al. 1997), which might decrease the risk of
becoming involved in liability claims.
A paradox?
The GDPs themselves did not seem to experience sub-optimal root canal treatments
as a problem. Ninety-four per cent regarded their level of endodontic skill as either
excellent or satisfactory (Study V). Moreover, the GDPs had high confidence in
performing endodontic treatments. The endodontic treatment of a mandibular molar
was evaluated with mean values situated in the 'easy' half of the scale (Study II).
This may be due to responder bias, as there may be a discrepancy between what the
health care providers say they perform and document versus what they actually do in
their daily practice (Helminen et al. 2002). However, the GDPs may also have their
focus on illness, as previously discussed. As the focus of the Danish GDPs seems to
be on the presence of clinical symptoms it is speculated that root filling quality is
accepted as long as it prevents such symptoms.
Reflections on hypotheses IV-VI:
The performance of root canal treatments of substandard quality amongst Danish
GDPs may be associated with:
-reports compared to the
, where females tend to
1ate it; moreover females
rankenhaeuser 1993).
for the patient to make a
practice claims, where an
an overrepresentation of
; made by Rene & Owall
111 et al. 1994, Levinson et
0
0
0
0
The use of sub-optimal endodontic routine procedures.
Deficient knowledge of factors important to treatment outcome.
A focus on illness attracting the majority, whereby a high confidence in
performing root canal treatments can be remained.
The presence of a relatively high number of malpractice claims involving
endodontic treatment, as they reflect sub-optimal endodontic treatments due
to technical shortcomings and technical treatment complications.
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