CEO-endodontics at UFRGS: a cross sectional study on the prevalence of care, patient characteristics and documentation of clinical records

Abstract

This study on root canal treatment aimed: i) to provide an overview regarding the treatment of patients referred by the Basic Health Units (UBS) of Porto Alegre at the CEO of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and ii) to investigate the adequate fulfillment of the patient`s clinical records. Clinical records from 242 patients were analyzed. Data were recorded into a table with the following information for each patient: 1) clinical record number, 2) age (years and months), 3) gender (male / female), 4) tooth, 5) number of appointments 6) presence of the final radiograph showing the root canal filling and the tooth restored without the rubber dam (yes / no), 7) quality of the radiography (adequate / inadequate), 8) presence of the final radiography at the time of root canal filling (yes / no), 9) quality of radiography (adequate / inadequate), 10) informed consent signed by the patient (yes / no), 11) fulfilment of the dialogue-interview (yes / no), 12) presence of the information about the pulp or periapical diagnosis (yes / no ), 13) report the completion of treatment / filling of the tooth (yes / no), 14) report on coronary temporary restoration (yes / no), 15) information on the counter-reference to the UBS (yes / no). The descriptive analysis (frequency and percentage) and correlation between the variables age (age group) with: i) gender, ii) tooth (anterior or posterior), iii) dental group and iv) number of appointments were performed. There was a predominance of female patients (63.2%) in all age groups, except in patients 60 years or older, where men were predominant. The majority of the treatments were in posterior teeth (60, 3%), except in patients aged 50-59 years. The 1st molars were the teeth with more endodontic treatment (28.9%), mainly in young adults patients (younger than 19 years up to 39 years old). Most treatments were completed in fewer appointments (in 67.4% of the cases up to 3 consultations). The negative points observed were: poor storage and quality of radiographs, lack of medical and dental history of the patient, lack of description on the pulp/periapical diagnosis and absence of the patient`s signature authorizing the treatment. The positives points were: the written report regarding the treatment completion was present in 100% of the cases, and the report regarding the coronary temporary restoration was documented in the most of the cases (95%). The findings of this present study described the service characteristics of the CEO-Endodontics at UFRGS. It also may contribute to the development of strategies that stimulate positive changes in the dental service, such as fostering students’ critical and ethical thinking regarding the magnitude of importance to report correctly the patients’ clinical records, and to generate ideas to improve the storage of the radiographs in the patients’ clinical records.