Practice profile differences among Swedish dentists. A questionnaire study with special reference to prosthodontics.

A questionnaire measuring differences in prosthodontic practice profiles was sent to 2100 Swedish dentists working as general practitioners. The response rate was 76%. Among the responders, 58% were men and 42% women. Fifty per cent were private practitioners, the other 50% being publicly employed. The practice profile variables showed a great variation, and several of the distributions differed with regard to sex and dental care system. The working hours per week the time spent on prosthodontics were on average higher for men than for women. Private practitioners more frequently worked in large communities and cities than did dentists working in the Public Dental Health Service. Practically all (98%) of the private practitioners used more than 75% of their clinical time on treating adults, compared with less than half of the dentists in the Public Dental Health Service. Male dentists reported higher percentage figures with regard to clinical time used for dental care of adults and for prosthodontic services than did female dentists. The figures for fixed prosthodontic service rates varied in the same manner. Fixed prosthodontic services were much more common in private practice than in the Public Dental Health Service, in which more removable dentures were made. Even though private practitioners used more time for prosthodontic services, they referred fewer patients to specialists in prosthodontics and consulted a specialist less often than did the dentists in the Public Dental Health Service.