Centralized automated quality assurance for large scale health care systems. A pilot method for some aspects of dental radiography.

President Clinton's Health Security Act proposes the formation of large scale health plans with improved quality assurance. Dental radiography consumes 4% ($1.2 billion in 1990) of total dental expenditure yet regular systematic office quality assurance is not performed.

Decisions of practitioners regarding placement of amalgam and composite restorations in general practice settings.

This study was undertaken to analyze the current reasons practitioners in general practice settings choose to place amalgam and composite restorations. Data were gathered on individual restorations in the clinical setting to provide information on reasons practitioners state that restorations are placed, the type of material most often placed in different restoration classifications, and the age of restorations at the time of replacement. The results of this study indicate that approximately one-half of all restorations, both amalgam and composite, were placed to treat primary caries.

A modified sectional cone obturation technique.

This investigation quantitatively analyzed the apical seal in teeth in which one of three gutta-percha root canal-obturating techniques was used. The seal obtained with each technique was measured with dye penetration and spectrophotometric analysis. No statistically significant difference was found among the lateral condensation, sectional cone, and modified sectional cone techniques in their ability to produce an apical seal.

Managing the perceptions of patient wait time.

Patients' perception of waiting time in the dental office can greatly affect their satisfaction of service. Traditional approaches to managing patient perceptions of wait time are discussed, and some new strategies are explored.