Roby D, Pourat N, Wyn R, Marcus M; AcademyHealth. Meeting (2005 : Boston, Mass.).
Abstr AcademyHealth Meet. 2005; 22: abstract no. 4445.
UCLA, Center for Health Policy Research, 10911 Weyburn Ave, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024 Tel. 310-794-3953 Fax
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: To examine the characteristics of dentists and dental practices in California and how they compare to national data. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-section of general dentists in private practice in California was surveyed by mail in 2003. Survey topics included demographics, practice setting, and specialty of dentists; practice location; staffing questions on size of the practice, salary for assistants, hygienists, and front office personnel, benefits, work status and dentists perceptions of availability of dental personnel. The information generated from this survey is the first of its kind in the state, and allows us to compare the California dentists and their practices to nationwide data using 1998 and 2001 reports of American Dental Association (ADA) data, the latest data available POPULATION STUDIED: A cross-section of general dentists in private practice in all California counties with licensed dentists. About 4,300 dentists participated in the mail survey with telephone follow up, with an adjusted response rate of 52%. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Preliminary analysis shows that dentists in private practice in California have different characteristics when compared to the entire nation. More tend to practice general dentistry (90% vs. 84%), work in larger practices (48% vs. 32% have two or more dentists), less frequently employ hygienists (88% vs. 73% have no full-time hygienists) but they employ more dental assistants (7% vs. 32% have no full-time dental assistants), pay higher hourly salaries to hygienists ($42 vs. $29) and dental assistants ($16 vs. $13) than dentists nationally. California dentist less often own the practice that they work in (82% vs. 90%), and spend less time in patient treatment activities (92% vs. 88%) than dentists nationwide. In their demographic characteristics, California's dentists are more often women (27% vs. 10%) than in the rest of the country and tend to be slightly older (86% vs. 80% are between 30-59 years old). More than half (53%) of California dentists are white, 34% are Asian, 6% are Latino, other races make up 6% of the dentists, and only 1% are African-American. Over half (53%) of dentists practice in Southern California, with 27% concentrated in the Bay Area. Lastly, 60% of dentists in the state speak a language other than English, while 68% of the dental practices have staff members that speak another language as well. There are no comparative national data for these demographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that California's dentists differ from the rest of the nation in a number of demographic and practice characteristics. Due to these differences, national policies on dental personnel and access to care may influence California dentists differently or in unexpected directions. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY, DELIVERY OR PRACTICE: A true understanding of the dental care personnel and delivery of dental care in California is more likely to be achieved using California specific data. Policies to improve access to care or to insure adequate supply of dental personnel may not otherwise achieve their intended effects.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- American Dental Association
- California
- Demography
- Dental Assistants
- Dental Care
- Dental Staff
- Dentistry
- Dentists
- Female
- Hispanic Americans
- Humans
- Language
- Private Practice
- manpower
- hsrmtgs
UI: 103623908
From Meeting Abstracts