RESUMO
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Concerns were expressed that postoperative written instructions following endodontic treatment are not available in the Dublin Dental University Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected in three phases: retrospective analysis of clinical notes for evidence of the delivery of postoperative instructions; a randomly distributed questionnaire to patients undergoing root canal treatment prior to the introduction of a written postoperative advice sheet; and, another survey following introduction of the advice sheet. RESULTS: Some 56% of patients' charts documented that postoperative advice was given. Analysis of phase two revealed that patients were not consistently informed of any key postoperative messages. In phase 3 analysis, the proposed benchmarks were met in four out of six categories. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative advice after root canal treatment in the DDUH is both poorly recorded and inconsistently delivered. A combination of oral postoperative instructions and written postoperative advice provided the most effective delivery of patient information.