Dentists underdiagnosed in the face of time pressure, according to research

According to a new study conducted by the University of Plymouth, dentists may miss important information about X-rays when they are subject to time constraints.

The study, published in the Journal of Dentistry, showed that primary care dentists omitted 67% of bone loss and 40% of dental caries from a sample of dental x-rays, when they had limited time to evaluate them. However, the 40 study participants correctly diagnosed, on average, all pathologies related to bone loss and tooth decay correctly, when they were not faced with time pressure.

Dentists routinely perform dental X-rays to detect tooth decay and loss of bone support around the teeth (which is a sign of severe gum disease).

The study participants, all from dental offices in southwestern England and the surrounding area, felt that their stress level was much higher in difficult situations than in situations where the pressures were insufficient.

The research was led by Anastasios Plessas, a clinical research fellow at the Peninsula Dental School, in collaboration with the School of Psychology at Plymouth University.

He said: "I conducted this research because there are no other studies evaluating the performance of dentists in a very short time frame, and this is a very important issue.

"These studies have shown a significant deterioration in the diagnostic performance of dentists during the examination of X-rays under pressure.Minetic errors can compromise patient safety.Under-diagnosis may cause patients to require more treatment. This study shows that we should not reduce the hours of appointments in order to accommodate more people, but look for other ways to meet the needs. patients. "

The comprehensive study titled Impact of Time Constraints on Dentists' Diagnostic Performance and is now available for viewing in Journal of Dentistry.