AN ANALYSIS OF AUDIO-RECORDINGS OF GENERAL DENTAL PRACTITIONERS CONSULTATIONS WITH ADOLESCENT PATIENTS

Dental consultations of 30 general practitioners with 132 patients age d 10-17 years were recorded. The dental consultation was found to have a consistent structure composed of a sequence of stages, although not all were present in each consultation. Criteria by which verbal commu nication in a dental consultation can be assessed are identified and t he frequency with which they occurred is presented. Although the major ity of dentists studied used important communication skills on some of their patients, there were many consultations in which basic techniqu es such as greeting the patient and using the patient's name were not used. The findings indicate that many dentists could improve their com munication with young patients and the investigation suggests mechanis ms by which undergraduate and postgraduate education could be improved in this important area.