Trial reportClinical oral investigations2019
Does the skin color of patients influence the treatment decision-making of dentists? A randomized questionnaire-based study.
Trial report in Clinical oral investigations, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genes in the pathway of tooth mineral tissues and dental caries risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical oral investigations · 2020Pooled it
- The pervasiveness of racism in healthcare facilities in Latin America: a scoping review.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Machine Learning Models for Identifying Dental Pain in Adolescents.International dental journal · 2026Article
- Tooth loss and rehabilitation in the elderly: an intersectional analysis of gender, race, and territory.Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Inequalities in negative maternal perception of oral health among Brazilian children: findings from the 2023 National Oral Health Survey (SB Brasil 2023).Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Caries and edentulism trends among Brazilian older adults: a comparative analysis of 2003, 2010, and 2023 surveys.Brazilian oral research · 2025Article
- Investigating pre-registration podiatry students approaches to identifying dermatology conditions in different skin tones: A mixed methods protocol.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2024Article
- Discrimination and Dignity Experiences in Prior Oral Care Visits Predict Racialized Oral Health Inequities Among Nationally Representative US Adults.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2024Article
- Factors influencing treatment decisions in permanent mature teeth with irreversible pulpitis: a questionnaire-based study.Australian dental journal · 2024Article
- Contextual inequalities in specialized dental public health care in Brazil.Brazilian oral research · 2024Article
- Perceived experiences of racism linked to dental fear and anxiety among Black women.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2023Article
- Perceived racism associated with declines in self-rated oral health among U.S. Black women.Annals of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Impact of the use of dental services on dental pain according to adolescents' skin colour: a 10-year cohort.Clinical oral investigations · 2023Article
- Wealth index association with self-reported oral health between white and non-white older Brazilians.Cadernos de saude publica · 2023Article
- Do non-clinical subjective factors influence the treatment decisionmaking of Brazilian dentists?Acta odontologica latinoamericana : AOL · 2022Article
- From describing disparities to understanding why disparities exist: Anti-racist methods to support dental public health research.Journal of public health dentistry · 2022Article
- What should people expect from person-centred dental visits? The Montreal-Toulouse Wheel of expectations.British dental journal · 2021Article
- The Perception of the Severity of Facial Asymmetry among Laypersons, General Practitioners, Orthodontists, and Maxillofacial Surgeons.Journal of dentistry (Shiraz, Iran) · 2021Article
- Black Lives Matter: the impact and lessons for the UK dental profession.British dental journal · 2021Article
- Tooth Loss Condition and Social Discrimination in Brazilian Healthcare Services.International journal of public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate whether patients' skin color could exert an influence on the dentist's decision-making for treatment, in four different cities in Brazil. MATERIAL AND
methodsLists of dentists were obtained and the sample selection was performed systematically. Two questionnaires were produced for the same clinical case, but the images were digitally manipulated to obtain a patient with a black and a white skin color. Dentists were free to choose treatment without any restrictions, including the financial aspects. A random sequence (white or black) was generated which was placed at random in sealed, opaque envelopes. Dentists were questioned about the decision on the treatment of a severely decayed tooth and an ill-adapted amalgam restoration.
resultsA total of 636 dentists agreed to participate in the study. After adjustments (multinomial logistic regression), it was observed that the black patient with a decayed tooth had a 50% lower risk of being referred for prosthetic treatment (p = 0.023) and a 99% higher risk of receiving a composite resin restoration, compared to the white patient (p = 0.027). No differences were observed regarding recommendation for tooth extraction (p = 0.657). In relation to an ill-adapted amalgam, the black patient had less risk of receiving a referral replacement with composite resin (0.09 95%CI [0.01-0.82]) and finishing and polishing (0.11 5%CI [0.01-0.99]) compared with the white patient.
conclusionPatient skin color influenced the dentist's choice of treatment. In general, black patients receive referrals for cheaper, simpler procedures. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Skin color played an important role in dentists' treatment decisions. Professionals may contribute unconsciously to the propagation and replication of racial discrimination.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.