Table 2.

Dental practice characteristics tested for their association with the treatment options chosen by DPBRN practitioner-investigators

Dentist’s Individual Characteristics	Practice Setting	Patient Population	Dental Procedure Characteristics
Year since graduation from dental school	Practice busynessa	Dental insurance coverage	Percent of patient contact time spent each day doing restorative workc
Race/ ethnicity	Waiting time for restorative dentistry	Number of patients who self-pay (pay out of their own resources)	Percent of patient contact time spent each day doing esthetic workc
Gender	DPBRN region of practice	Age distribution	Percent of patient contact time spent each day doing extractionsd
	Type of practiceb	Racial/ethnic distribution	Whether or not caries risk is done as a routine part of treatment planning

a= 1=too busy to treat all people requesting appointments, 2=provided care to all who requested appointments, but the practice was overburdened; 3= provided care to all who requested appointments, and the practice was not overburdened; 4= not busy enough-the practice could have treated more patients

b= 1=solo or small group private practice; 2=large group practice; 3=public health practice

c=0=none; 1=1–30% of the time; 2=31 to 50% of the time; 3=more than 50% of the time.

d= 0=none; 1=1–20% of the time; 2=21 to 30% of the time; 3=more than 30% of the time.