Vilija Janulytė, Alina Pūrienė
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to explore the health careservice of dental specialists in Lithuania, to investigate the relationbetween the service and dental specialists‘ demographic andprofessional factors. Census sampling was employed (n=551) andthe data collected by means of a structured questionnaire. Responserate was 62.6%. 58.2% of all dental specialists provided onlyspecialized care, while the rest 41.8% worked as a specialist andalso as a general dentist. Possibility of providing only specializedcare was 2.49 times higher for private practice owners or those whorented dental chair for dental practice when compared to associatedentists. No significant difference between the dentist’ age,organizational type of residency studies, perceived lack of patientsand provided service was found. As part of dental specialists‘postgraduate (residency) studies was government funded, thesituation leads to an inefficient use of state finance and need to beaddressed by policy makers and health care planners in Lithuania.
Keyword(s): dental specialists, general dentists
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2014.136
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