Comparison of undergraduate pediatric dentistry clinical procedures from 1982-83 through 1996-97

Using the information obtained from the Collegiate Patient Management System a comparison of average numbers of procedures performed by third year dental students from 1983/84 to 1996/97 was made. The data were grouped in order to compare Group I (1983/1989) to Group II (1990/1997). Student's t-tests were performed to determine significant differences between the groups for the various procedures. The number of new patients in Group I was only 8.2 compared to Group II--7.9 and the total number of new and recall patients seen by students was Group I--33.5 compared to Group II--29.9. Students in Group I performed 19.3 one-surface restorations compared to 11.8 (p = .0001) in the later group and 9.5 two-surface restorations compared to 6.0 (p = .0003) for the 1990's group. Stainless steel crowns, pulpotomies, extractions and sealants were also compared. The total numbers of patients visits was 66.8 in GRP I compared to 49.6 (p;eq.0001) in GRP II. There has been a decrease in most student experiences in the undergraduate pediatric dental clinic in the past 15 years.