[A survey on human resources of dentists who deal with periodontal disease in Beijing].

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the status quo of human resources of dentists who deal with periodontal disease in Beijing area through an online survey, which may hopefully provide a preliminary basis for the decision-making of administrative departments and the formulation of periodontal professional development plan. Methods: The dentists who deal with periodontal disease at least half a day per week in Beijing area were investigated. A questionnaire was designed by the chairman of the Periodontology Committee of Beijing Stomatological Association. The questionnaire was sent to and finished by the dentists via "WenJuanXing" online survey software. The contents of the survey included general condition, the property of practice unit, title and position of the dentist, membership of professional society, time and content of periodontal treatment, adoption of new technology and new method of periodontal therapy during the past one year, status of periodontal treatment in the local population and reasons, understanding and influencing factors of periodontal professional development. Results: A total of 1 255 dentists completed the survey, who came from all 16 districts in Beijing, mainly Haidian, Chaoyang, Dongcheng and Xicheng Districts [The total percentage of these four main districts was 70.3% (882/1 255)]. The mean age of the dentists was (36.1±8.3) years. Among the dentists, 71.1% (892/1 255) were females, 88.1% (1 106/1 255) got a Bachelor's degree or above. It was estimated that 35.4% (444/1 255) of the dentists had received standardized periodontal training ever. The percentage of dentists carrying out new technology in the past one year was as high as 68.1% (855/1 255). There were only 163 periodontal specialists (13.0%) out of the dentists in the survey. Only 15.9% (200/1 255) of the dentists routinely performed periodontal surgery. The majority of the dentists [82.8% (1 039/1 255)] were from the state-owned hospitals. Fifty-four point seven percemt (686/1 255) of the dentists thought that lack of knowledge was the main reason why the general public failed to receive periodontal treatment. As for the biggest bottleneck affecting periodontal professional development, fifty-one point zero percent (640/1 255) of the dentists attributed it to the public neglect. Conclusions: The periodontal practitioners in Beijing are young, highly educated, unevenly distributed in 16 districts and mostly females. State-owned oral health institutions are an important force in periodontal diagnosis and treatment services in Beijing. The number of periodontal specialists need to be improved. Promotion of standardized periodontal surgery and the popularization of healthcare knowledge on periodontal disease should also be the focus in the future.