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Tidskrift

Sammanfattning

Imported dental laboratory services have been used by dentists for several years. However, little is known about the extent of use and dentists" assessment of quality. The aim of this study was to explore the use of imported dental laboratory services by dentists in Norway in 2008. We recorded the reasons for using or not using such services as well as the dentists’ assessment of the quality of the services and items. Questionnaires were distributed at four different dental meetings; altogether 203 dentists responded, and 177 represented Norwegian dentists who used dental laboratory services. Results showed that most of the dentists (71%) used imported work to a varying extent. The dentists in the public dental service used a higher proportion of imported services than did the private practitioners. The main reason for choosing imported work was low cost. For some public dentists it is mandatory to use low-cost services, thus the imported work had to be used. Overall, dentists were satisfied with imported dental services. Most dentists (61%) assessed the quality to be at least of the same standard as that from national dental laboratories, while the remainder indicated that the quality varied depending on the type of work. The main concerns associated with imported services were related to communication difficulties and uncertainty regarding material selection.

MeSH