National Dental PBRN Dentist Characteristics Study

• Network Updates, Studies

We are excited to share with you the results of a recent study that aimed to describe the characteristics of dentists who are members of the US National Dental PBRN and determine how often these dentists provide specific dental procedures.

The study found that of the 4,483 dentists in active clinical practice, 34% identified as women, 70% as white, and 73% as general dentists. Most dentists practiced in large metropolitan areas (87%) and in solo or small practices (72%). On average, they reported about one-half of their patients were children or older adults, a third were from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and one-quarter were covered by public insurance. Most dentists routinely performed restorations and fixed prosthetics (78%), extractions (59%), removable (44%) and implant (40%) prosthetics, and endodontics on incisor and premolar teeth (44%).

These findings suggest that dentists participating in the National Dental PBRN have much in common with dentists at large. The network has a broad representation of dentists, practice types, patient populations, and treatments offered, including diversity regarding race/ethnicity, gender, insurance, and geography of its practitioners and patients. This enables an array of clinical study settings and topics that can optimize the generalizability of study findings.

We are proud to have such a diverse group of dental professionals as part of our network and look forward to continuing to work together to improve dental care for everyone.