• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.57 no.8
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• pp.428-436
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• 2019

In cases of a patient referral, the general dentist should communicate the patient's dental information as clearly as possible to the specialist to whom he/she is referring his/her patient. For this reason, it is necessary to write a referral letter in an accurate and complete manner. The purpose of this study is to analyze the referral letters of patients who are referred to the department of conservative dentistry in a dental university hospital. From January, 2017 to December, 2018, we gathered the information of the patients who were referred to the department of conservative dentistry in a dental university hospital with referral letter. We evaluated the fidelity of a total of 750 referral letters and recorded the information of the referral dentist and the dental clinic. The relationship between each item and fidelity was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The analysis of the contents of the referral letters yielded the following results: The fidelity of the referral letter was higher when the patient was referred during the root canal treatment, or when there was a root canal filling or when there was pain during chewing. The fidelity of referral letter was low in cases where the referring clinic is close to and has cooperative relationship with dental university hospital. Among the factors affecting the fidelity, the year of graduation of the referral dentist was the most influential. This study confirmed the fact that the clinical practice of writing patient referral letters still leaves much to be desired. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to create more clear and standardized guidelines for writing referral letters.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.143-152
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of patients and teeth referred to a university dental hospital for endodontic problem. Materials and Methods: From January, 2017 to December, 2018, patients who were referred to a university dental hospital for endodontic problem were collected from clinical records. A total of 1171 patient records were analyzed. The status of the referred teeth was divided into three groups according to whether they were treated endodontically based on radiographs and clinical records at the time of referred visit. Results: 69.9% of the referred teeth were maxillary and mandibular first and second molars. The average time from referral to actual visit is 9.03 days and 65.6% of the case referred with referring letter. The most primary reasons of referral were persistent clinical symptom (pain, swelling, and sinus tract) (37.9%), diagnosis difficulty (16.7%), blockage of canal space (13.8%) and difficult tooth anatomy (11.4%). In the case of referral before endodontic treatment, the most primary reason of referral was failure to make a proper diagnosis. If the teeth were referred in the middle of endodontic treatment, the most primary reason of referral was persistent clinical symptom and blockage of canal space. In the case of referral after root canal filling, the most primary reason of referral was persistent clinical symptom. Conclusion: In the case of molars, the rate of persistent clinical symptom and blockage of canal space were the most primary reason of referral, and the rate of apical surgery and management of trauma was high in the case of anterior teeth.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.263-265
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• 2015

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is routinely recommended for dental diagnosis and treatment planning. CBCT exposes patients to less radiation than does conventional CT. Still, lack of proper education among dentists and specialists is resulting in improper referral for CBCT. In addition, aiming to generate high-quality images, operators may increase the radiation dose, which can expose the patient to unnecessary risk. This letter advocates appropriate radiation dosing during CBCT to the benefit of both patients and dentists, and supports moving from the concept of "as low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA) to "as low as diagnostically acceptable" (ALADA).