Care coordination among pediatricians and dentists: a cross-sectional study of opinions of North Carolina dentists

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  • Quinonez, Rocio B.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, School of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry
  • Kranz, Ashley M.
    • Affiliation: School of Dentistry
  • Long, Marshall
    • Other Affiliation: Private Practice, Charlotte, NC, USA
  • Rozier, R. Gary
    • Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management
Abstract
  • Abstract: Background: Care coordination between physicians and dentists remains a challenge. This study of dentists providing pediatric dental care examined their opinions about physicians’ role in oral health and identified factors associated with these opinions. Methods: North Carolina general and pediatric dentists were surveyed on their opinions of how physicians should proceed after caries risk assessment and evaluation of an 18-month-old, low risk child. We estimated two multinomial logistic regression models to examine dentists’ responses to the scenario under the circumstances of an adequate and a limited dental workforce. Results: Among 376 dentists, 52% of dentists indicated physicians should immediately refer this child to a dental home with an adequate dental workforce. With a limited workforce, 34% recommended immediate referral. Regression analysis indicated that with an adequate workforce guideline awareness was associated with a significantly lower relative risk of dentists’ recommending the child remain in the medical home than immediate referral. Conclusions: Dentists’ opinions and professional guidelines on how physicians should promote early childhood oral health differ and warrant strategies to address such inconsistencies. Without consistent guidelines and their application, there is a missed opportunity to influence provider opinions to improve access to dental care.
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Resource type
  • Article
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Rights holder
  • Rocio B Quinonez et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
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Journal title
  • BMC Oral Health
Journal volume
  • 14
Journal issue
  • 1
Page start
  • 33
Language
  • English
Is the article or chapter peer-reviewed?
  • Yes
ISSN
  • 1472-6831
Bibliographic citation
  • BMC Oral Health. 2014 Apr 07;14(1):33
Publisher
  • BioMed Central Ltd
Access right
  • Open Access
Date uploaded
  • August 26, 2015

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