Comparison of Student Productivity in Four‐Handed Clinic and Regular Unassisted Clinic

Abstract

Although four-handed dentistry is routine in most dental practices in the United States, solo unassisted clinical practice is the norm for students at many North American dental schools. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical productivity of fourth-year dental students practicing in a four-handed model to the clinical productivity of those same fourth-year dental students practicing in a solo, unassisted mode at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry for the three academic years 2005-08. Students averaged 2.62 patient visits per day in the four-handed Dental Auxiliary Utilization (DAU) Clinic and 1.74 visits per day in the regular Family Dentistry Clinic. Charging fees that are approximately 50 percent of prevailing local private practice fees, the mean daily charges for services provided by individual students averaged $329 in the DAU Clinic and $190 in the Family Dentistry Clinic. The mean daily productivity differentials were 0.88 patient visits and $139. While students averaged 51 percent more patient visits and 75 percent higher charges daily in the DAU Clinic as compared to the regular Family Dentistry Clinic, the increased revenues might not be sufficient to offset increased expenses incurred in the four-handed clinical operation.

Satisfaction of optional pairing in clinical dental training

“…It would be part of the curriculum and students' pairing would be arranged by dental school or department administrations. 9,12,[18][19][20][21][22] At our dental school, clinical pairing was not mandatory but optional, highly encouraged and recommended. In addition, students were allowed to choose their assistant without the interference of the supervisor or department.…”

Clinical and Community‐Based Education in U.S. Dental Schools

“…To compensate for inefficiencies in clinical operations and to attract an adequate volume of patients for students to attain competence, some dental schools have had to reduce procedure fees by 50% or more of Usual, Customary, and Reasonable (UCR) as reported, for example, by the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa 9 , 15 , 16 . This fee reduction leads to lower clinic revenues and widens the loss margin of dental school clinics.…”

Ergonomics work analysis applied to dentistry - a Brazilian case study

“…She reports that when she had an assistant she had a better quality of life. The fourhanded job is usually more productive, reduces stress, and improves the efficiency along with the profits [5,8]…”