Periodontal services rendered by general practitioners.

BACKGROUND There are few reports in the dental literature regarding the types of periodontal services offered by general practitioners (GPs). The purpose of this study was to determine the specific nature of periodontal services rendered by GPs and to investigate whether certain variables affect GPs' practice patterns. METHODS A 13-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 600 dentists practicing in the state of Virginia. GPs were asked to identify the periodontal services rendered in their office within a 3-month period. Descriptive statistics, simple correlation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to identify significant relationships between variables and periodontal services. RESULTS Ninety percent of GPs reported treating at least one patient with scaling and root planing, and 16% of GPs reported rendering this service to >36 patients. Eighty-six percent of GPs reported providing periodontal maintenance in their practices. Approximately 50% of dentists reported up to 24 patients having received periodontal maintenance. Fifty-eight percent of GPs reported that >or=90% of scaling and root planing was done by the hygienists. Fifty-five percent of GPs treated at least one patient with site-specific therapy using chemotherapeutic agents. Twenty-eight percent of GPs treated one to five patients with low-dose antibiotic. Seventy percent of GPs treated at least one patient with occlusal therapies, and 50% reported treating one to five patients with occlusal therapies. The most common surgical services performed included crown lengthening and pocket reduction surgery, which were done by 38% and 21% of GPs, respectively. A few GPs (N = 26) performed the majority of periodontal surgical services. Variables found to influence specific services rendered by GPs included year of dental school graduation, recent hours of continuing education related to periodontics, combined number of dental hygienist days per week, percentage of periodontal patients in practice, and referral for non-surgical periodontal therapy. CONCLUSIONS A variety of periodontal services were offered by GPs. The most common services were non-surgical in nature. Certain variables affected specific periodontal services rendered in general dental offices.