Satisfaction with dental care among patients who receive invasive or non-invasive treatment for non-cavitated early dental caries: findings from one region of the National Dental PBRN

Table 1 Characteristics of enrolled patients (n = 276), caries lesions (n = 429), and treatment

	n	%
Patient characteristics
Patient’s gender
Male	99	36
Female	176	64
missing	1
Patient’s race
White	242	88
Black/African-American	24	9
Asian	3	1
Other	4	2
missing	3
Patient’s age group
19–24 years old	32	12
25–39 years old	103	38
40–54 years old	81	30
55 years old or older	57	21
missing	3
Patient has any dental insurance
Yes	218	79
No	58	21
Patient’s caries risk as determined by the practitioner^a
Low risk	35	13
Moderate risk	195	71
High risk	46	17
Number of early caries lesions in patient as determined by the practitioner
1	150	54
2	63	23
3	36	13
4	27	10
Caries lesion characteristics
Tooth surfaces with early caries
Occlusal	302	70
Mesial	57	13
Distal	62	15
Buccal or Facial	107	25
Lingual or Palatal	34	8
Incisal	9	2
missing	4
Practitioner’s preoperative assessment of the deepest part of the early caries lesion
In the outer one-half of the enamel	345	81
In the inner one-half of the enamel	79	19
missing	5
Treatment recommended to patient for these lesions^b
Monitoring	424	99
Oral hygiene instruction	426	99
Applying or prescribing fluoride	98	23
Applying varnish	9	2
Sealant placement	6	1
Enameloplasty	0	0
Preventive resin restoration	17	4
Full restoration	40	9

^aUsing the American Dental Association Caries Risk Assessment Form (available at the citation for this manuscript at the network’s web site at http://nationaldentalpbrn.org/tyfoon/site/fckeditor/Caries%20Risk%20Assessment%20Form.pdf). A score of 0 indicates that the patient is low-risk. A score of 1–9 means moderate risk. A score of 10 or more indicates high-risk
^bMultiple choices were possible

ISSN: 1472-6831