Prosthodontic decision making among general dentists in Sweden. III: The choice between fixed partial dentures and single implants

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe how dentists evaluated t he importance of various items related to a treatment choice between fixed partial dentures (FPD) and single implants, and to analyze if the differenc es could be explained by dentist-related variables such as social and demog raphic attributes, job situation, and attitudes. Materials and Methods: Que stionnaires were sent to a random sample of 2,059 Swedish general dentists, with a response rate of 76%. In the questionnaire, the choice between an F PD and a single-implant restoration in a clinical situation was presented. Fifteen items were constructed and the dentists were asked to mark on visua l analogue scales the relative importance he or she gave the different item s. The items were analyzed through principal components analysis, where a t hree-factor solution was obtained; the factors were labeled as "time," "hea lth," and "comfort." The factors were run as dependent variables in multipl e regression analyses. Results: The items evaluated as most important were "prognosis for delivered treatment" and "patient's wish." Large individual differences were seen, but the differences between groups of dentists were small. Male dentists considered the "health" and the "comfort" factors to b e more important compared to female dentists. The attitudinal variable "pat ient information" was significantly associated with the "time" factor and, inversely, with the "comfort" factor. Conclusion: Differences between indiv iduals were great, but between groups of dentists the differences were only minor. Multivariately, the attitudinal variable "patient: information" sho wed significant associations with the "time" and the "comfort" factors. Den tist-related variables explained little of the variations. The results furt her indicated a low personal knowledge concerning implant treatments. Psych ologic methods might explain more of the individual differences in prosthod ontic decision making, but these are not easily used in a questionnaire stu dy.