PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND PATIENT PERIODONTAL HEALTH

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This project determines the need for and tests the effectiveness of a professional continuing education intervention for dental providers designed to improve the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control of gingivitis and periodontitis in general dental practices. Current provider behaviors related to, and prevalence of gingivitis and periodontitis among adult patients are determined in 25-30 practices in each of two counties. Providers in one county participate in a year-long, moderately intensive educational intervention featuring application of performance feedback, goal setting, and technical assistance. The effects of the intervention are evaluated by comparison of changes in patients' periodontal status, patient knowledge, provider treatment behaviors, provider knowledge, and practice treatment distributions in the experimental county with those in the control county. The intervention is then replicated in the control county. The project represents a practical, generalizable approach to the evaluation of current assumptions concerning the management of gingivitis and periodontitis in general dental practices; namely that a substantial portion of care provided may be inappropriate, and that the situation can be remedied through provision of continuing education for providers. The project will provide new information concerning the extent of gingivitis and periodontitis among regular utilizers of dental services and the appropriateness of current professional treatment behaviors related to these diseases. The project also represents the first evaluation of the effects of professional dental continuing education on patients' oral health. The intervention tested in the project is designed to be reproducible with a minimum of expense and special resources. As a part of North Carolina's long-term focus on improvement in periodontal health, the results of this project are expected to serve as the basis for similar regional interventions in the state, as well as offering a model for replication elsewhere.