Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine if periodontal residents could enhance their ability to appraise the pain levels experienced by their patients from probing, using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to record pain. We hypothesized that with increasing experience by repeated comparisons of the patients' VAS pain ratings with independent ratings by the residents, they would improve their ability to appraise their patients' pain experiences.

Methods: For each of three periodontal residents, 40 consecutive periodontitis patients were asked to express the degree of pain they experienced during the probing. Independently, the residents rated the pain level they perceived that the patient experienced. Subsequently, the residents compared the two VAS ratings and discussed differences in ratings with the patients.

Results: Differences between patients' and residents' VAS scores tended to be smaller for the latter half of the consecutive patients for two of the residents. For the third resident, differences did not tend to become smaller until the last quartile of consecutive patients. However, the modified likelihood ratio test with combined data from all three residents did not detect any statistically significant improvement over time.

Conclusions: This study indicated that the training program improved the residents' ability to estimate the pain experiences of their patients, at least for two of the three participating residents. This training program using periodontal probing as a model could be used as an educational tool for dental and dental hygiene students and practitioners who want to improve their sensitivity to their patients' pain experiences.

KEY WORDS: Pain estimation; periodontal probing; training program.

LLU Discipline

Periodontics

Department

Periodontics

School

Graduate Studies

First Advisor

Tord Lundgren

Second Advisor

Gary Bogle

Third Advisor

Jay S. Kim

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

2006

Date (Title Page)

5-2006

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Pain; Pain Measurement; Physical Examination; Education, Dental; Periodontics -- education

Type

Thesis

Page Count

ix; 15

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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