PRACTICE PROFILE DIFFERENCES AMONG SWEDISH DENTISTS - A QUESTIONNAIRESTUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PROSTHODONTICS

A questionnaire measuring differences in prosthodontic practice profil es was sent to 2100 Swedish dentists working as general practitioners. The response rate was 76%. Among the responders, 58% were men and 42% women. Fifty per cent were private practitioners, the other 50% being publicly employed. The practice profile variables showed a great vari ation, and several of the distributions differed with regard to sex an d dental care system. The working hours per week and the time spent on prosthodontics were on average higher for men than for women. Private practitioners more frequently worked in large communities and cities than did dentists working in the Public Dental Health Service. Practic ally all (98%) of the private practitioners used more than 75% of thei r clinical time on treating adults, compared with less than half of th e dentists in the Public Dental Health Service. Male dentists reported higher percentage figures with regard to clinical time used for denta l care of adults and for prosthodontic services than did female dentis ts. The figures for fixed prosthodontic service rates varied in the sa me manner. Fixed prosthodontic services were much more common in priva te practice than in the Public Dental Health Service, in which more re movable dentures were made. Even though private practitioners used mor e time for prosthodontic services, they referred fewer patients to spe cialists in prosthodontics and consulted a specialist less often than did the dentists in the Public Dental Health Service.