work-pattern differences between male and female orthodontists

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Work-pattern differences between male andfemale orthodontistsJeffrey J. Blasiusa and Eung-Kwon Paeb

Farmington, Conn, and Los Angeles, Calif

Introduction: Traditionally, most orthodontists have been men. In recent years, however, the number ofwomen in dentistry and dental specialties, including orthodontics, has increased dramatically. Becausepractice patterns of male and female orthodontists might differ, they should be evaluated so that our schoolscan produce enough providers for the future. Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 798 orthodontists; theresponse rate was 68.8%. Questions about practice behavior and productivity were designed to assess sexdifference with respect to age, marital status, and number of children. Results: Number of children appearedto be a good predictor of days worked per week and length of leaves of absence for female orthodontists.Solo practitioners dominate the field of orthodontics, irrespective of age or sex. Although women were lesslikely than men to be practice owners, only 20% of the women responding were not in an ownership position.Women were slightly more likely to be involved in a group practice, they worked in fewer offices than men,and they employed fewer full-time and part-time people. Female nonowners were more likely to take longerleaves of absence. Overall, women worked slightly fewer days per week and spent fewer hours per week indirect patient care. Annually, they devoted 25 fewer days to practice than men, but, when adjusted for leavesof absence, men and women worked similar numbers of weeks in 1999. Conclusions: Among orthodontists,work patterns of men and women differ somewhat, but these differences might not be as significant as other
factors; more study is required. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2005;128:283-91)
Until the 1960s, women comprised about 1% ofthe dentists in the United States. However, thenumber of women in dentistry and dental

specialties, including orthodontics, has increased dra-matically in recent years.1 Because men and womentend to assume different levels of responsibility athome, especially in child rearing, practice patterns ofmale and female orthodontists might differ. Therefore,work patterns should be evaluated so that our schoolscan produce enough providers for the future. If femaleorthodontists work fewer hours than their male coun-terparts, current supply studies might underestimate theneed for new orthodontists. The limited amount ofavailable data compounds the difficulty of assessing theimpact of the ongoing sex shift in orthodontics.

It is sometimes assumed that a professional wom-an’s commitment to work is less reliable than a man’s,2

aFormer resident, Department of Orthodontics, University of ConnecticutHealth Center, Farmington, Conn; private practice, South Burlington, Vt.bAssistant professor, Section of Orthodontics, UCLA School of Dentistry, LosAngeles, Calif.Performed at University of Connecticut Health Center for the first author’sMPH degree.Reprint requests to: Eung-Kwon Pae, UCLA School of Dentistry, Section ofOrthodontics, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668; e-mail,[email protected], May 2004; revised and accepted, September 2004.0889-5406/$30.00Copyright © 2005 by the American Association of Orthodontists.
doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2004.09.019
because she is more likely to take time off or subordi-nate her career when she has children3,4 or whencombined family income is high.5 However, currentevidence suggests that women are redefining dentalpractice options to better integrate a professional careerwith parenting responsibilities.6 Nevertheless, the rela-tionships among family roles, professional work ethic,and productivity have not been well studied. Fewstudies address the issue of orthodontic care providers,thus leaving the specialty to speculate whether maleand female orthodontists practice similarly.

The goal of this study was to determine the impactof more female practitioners on the future of orthodon-tic health-care delivery. The findings could affect den-tal education, continuing education, and the overallsupply of orthodontists in the United States. The specificaims of this project were to examine the demographic andfamilial patterns of male and female orthodontists, exam-ine the economic and practice characteristics of men andwomen, discuss sex-specific trends in orthodontic practicepatterns, and determine what, if any, impact the increasingnumbers of women will have on the future of orthodonticcare.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A mail survey was chosen as the appropriateresearch tool to collect information from a large sample
of orthodontists in the United States. Questionnaires
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American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial OrthopedicsSeptember 2005

284 Blasius and Pae

were mailed to a stratified random sample of 798orthodontists. Each mailing included a questionnaire,an addressed and stamped return envelope, and ahand-signed cover letter explaining the purpose of thesurvey (Appendix). Recipients were told that respon-dent confidentiality would be respected and that respon-dents could receive a copy of the final report. Eachquestionnaire had an identification marker in the upperright corner, used to differentiate respondents fromnonrespondents. Nonrespondents were mailed a secondsurvey 2 months after the first mailing.

Access 2000 (Microsoft, Redmond, Wash) data-bases were identifier-blinded to maintain respondentconfidentiality. The questionnaire was designed to elicitinformation about demographics, practice characteris-tics, leaves of absence, vacations, and current worksituations. Additionally, the survey asked respondentstheir reasons for choosing orthodontics, their expectedretirement age, and their past employment history.Respondents who were not current practice ownerswere asked how long they planned to continue in thatmode and what their plans for the future were. Currentpractice owners were asked to provide informationabout overhead, numbers of employees and associates,and any sex preference of future associates. At the endof the survey, any additional comments were wel-comed.

A random sample of orthodontists was extractedfrom the American Association of Orthodontics (AAO)1999 biannual directory. The AAO is a national orga-nization that comprises 97% of all orthodontists in theUnited States. On March 30, 1999, the directory listed7648 active, practicing orthodontists in the 50 states(862 women, 6786 men). Pages cut from the directoryindex were selected at random, photocopied, and thencut apart into individual names that were groupedaccording to sex. Orthodontists who completed trainingbetween 1975 and 1998 were included in the sample.

From the 7648 practicing orthodontists in the AAOdirectory, we calculated that an adequate sample sizefor statistical power was 830 (415 men and 415women) including 3% to allow for incorrect addresses.The actual final sample size was 798 orthodontists (396women and 402 men), and 549 questionnaires werereturned. Each survey was labeled with a respondentnumber, allowing confidentiality to be maintained.Data from each returned survey were recorded in anAccess database file.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 10.0(Chicago, Ill). Descriptive statistics were generated,
including means, standard deviations, ranges, and total
number of respondents for each question. Cross tabu-lations for each category with sex as the independentvariable were used when appropriate. Contingencytables were formulated, and chi-square values (Pearsonchi-square or Fischer’s exact test where appropriate)and probabilities were to determine statistically signif-icant differences in proportions. In the analyses, error(statistical significance) was set at the level P � .05. Inthe comparison of means, analysis of variance (ANOVA)was used to test statistical significance between the sexes.When multiple means were compared, 1-way ANOVA inconjunction with the Scheffé test was used.

RESULTS

From the final sample of 798 orthodontists (396women and 402 men) who received the survey mail,549 questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of68.8%. The male response rate was 283/402, or 70.6%,and the female response rate was 265/396, or 66.9%.The average age of the group was 42.3 years with astandard deviation of 7.0 years. The average age of thefemale respondents was 39.6 years (median 39.0) witha standard deviation of 6.3 years. The average age ofthe male respondents was 44.9 years (median 45.0years) with a standard deviation of 6.6 years.

The years of graduation from undergraduate, dentalschool, and orthodontic residency were markedly sim-ilar for men and women. For both, the median ageswere 26 years at graduation from dental school and 29years for orthodontic training. When asked why theychose orthodontics, both men and women most oftenselected “career suits abilities,” followed by “profes-sional autonomy.”

Of the 212 married women who responded, 189(89%) had a spouse who was employed full-time,compared with only 47 of the 265 (18%) married menwho responded. Male respondents’ spouses were mostlikely to be not currently employed (57%), followed byemployed part-time (25%), and employed full time(18%). Female respondents’ spouses were most likelyto be employed full time (89%) and much less likely tobe employed part time (6.5%) or not at all (4.2%).

Men had more children (mean, 2.4 children, SD1.3) than women (mean, 1.4 children, SD 1.2); thisdifference was statistically significant (P � .01). Themedian number of children for both groups was 2. Theage at which women had their first (31.9 � 3.8) andsecond (34.3 � 3.6) children was significantly (P �.01) higher than the age at which men had theirs (30.0� 4.7 and 32.7 � 4.7, respectively).

Men and women were most likely to work as solopractitioners (66.5% and 50.2%, respectively). The
second most common practice type for both sexes was

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Blasius and Pae 285

in a group limited to orthodontics (27.5% and 31.3%).The mean number of offices that the respondentsworked in exhibited a statistically significant difference(P � .01): 2.4 � 1.2, median 2.0 for men and 1.7 � 0.9,median 1.0 for women.

A statistically significant difference (P � .01) wasidentified in the proportion of male and female respon-dents who owned all or part of a practice; 5% of themen and 20% of the women respondents were not in anownership position at the time of the survey. Nostatistically significant difference emerged when over-head was evaluated (women, 54.5% � 11%, median55%; men, 53.9% � 9%, median 55%). The number ofemployees differed significantly (full-time employees,P � .01; part-time employees, P � .05) between thesexes (women, 4.91 � 4.9 full-timers, median 4.0, and1.89 � 1.8 part-timers, median 2.0; men, 7.61 � 5.8full-timers, median 6.0, and 2.6 � 3.6 part-timers,median 2.0).

A statistically significant difference (P � .01) wasobserved in the sex preference of potential futureassociates by all respondents. Most respondents repliedthat the sex of any future associates did not matter(men, 84%; women, 67%). However, among those whohad a preference, 65% preferred a female associate and35% preferred a male associate. Various reasons werestated for a sex preference.

When the data were analyzed by the number ofchildren, women with 1 or 2 children and those with 3or 4 worked fewer days than women with no childrenand all men (P � .05) (Table I). No statistical differ-ence was found between women with no children andany subgroup of men.

Men with 3 or more children saw an average of 15more patients per day (P � .01) than any of thesubgroups of women, approximately 10 more patientsper day (P � .05) than men with 1 or 2 children, and 15more patients per day than men with no children (notstatistically significant). Men with 3 or more childrenstarted an average of approximately 120 more cases(P � .01) than did women in any subgroup (0, 1 to 2,or 3 or more children) and more cases (but notstatistically significant) than men with fewer than 3children.

The total number of weeks of leave of absence inthe respondent’s lifetime was significantly correlatedwith number of children. Women with 3 or morechildren took leaves of absence that were significantly(P � .001) longer than any other group: they took 52more weeks of leave than men with any number ofchildren, 48 more weeks than women with no children,and 41 more weeks than women with 1 or 2 children.
No statistically significant differences could be attrib-
uted to the number of children in relation to projectedretirement age for any group.

The lengths of the leaves of absence did notsignificantly differ between the sexes. The most com-mon reasons women took leaves of absence were childbearing and maternity. The most common reason mentook a leave of absence was personal illness and nothaving a job.

Age was categorically defined as 29-36, 37-44, and45-64 years for both sexes (Table II). Women in all agecategories worked fewer days per week than men in anyage category (P � .05). The differences ranged from0.37 to 0.75 fewer days per week. The smallest differ-ence was between women aged 45-64 and men aged45-64, and the largest difference was between women37-44 and men 29-36. Men 37-44 and 45-65 alsodemonstrated a statistically significant difference (P �.05) from all women when the dependent variable wasnumber of patients seen per day. Men older than 37(37-44 and 45-64) saw 11 more patients a day thanwomen in any age category. Men 29-36 saw morepatients per day than women, but the difference was notstatistically significant.

DISCUSSION

At the time of the survey, the men were an averageof 45 years old and about 15 years beyond theirorthodontic education. The women averaged 40 yearsof age and about 10 years beyond their schooling. Thus,both groups were in their prime years of practice, withthe women slightly younger. Practice experience wassignificantly higher than in many previous studies,which tended to focus on women who were newer tothe specialty.

Most women had spouses who were employed fulltime, and over 80% of them were professionals (den-tists, physicians, or nonhealth-care professionals). Mostmen had spouses who were not currently employed orwere employed part time. This factor could be veryimportant for future studies, because part of the moti-vation to work revolves around the need to support thefamily financially. If the combined family income offemale orthodontists is higher than that of men, thenwomen’s work patterns might differ significantly frommen’s as they age.6

Female respondents had 1 child fewer than men,and the average age at which they had their first andsecond children was 2 years older than men’s. Thismight indicate that women are putting off havingchildren until they are more established in theircareers—2 to 4 years after their orthodontic education.

Both men and women were most likely to be solo
practitioners, followed by group practitioners. More

60.33


286 Blasius and Pae

women, however, worked in a group practice (45% ofwomen v 32% of men). Only 2% of female orthodon-tists were not currently in the workforce. Men owned amedian of 1 more office than women, worked morehours and more days per week, saw more patients perday, and had more case starts per year in 1998 and1999. On the other hand, women took less vacationtime than men in 1999.

Most respondents had worked in nonownershippositions, and the number of years in a nonownershipposition did not differ between sexes. However, morewomen respondents were in a nonownership position atthe time of the survey. No significant findings wereidentified in the number of years men or womenplanned to remain in the nonowner position. Menemployed more full- and part-time people than didwomen.

Recent articles about sex trends in dental practicepatterns suggest that there are important differences inpractice ownership. When ownership status (eitherownership in a group or solo practice) was analyzed inour sample, no statistically significant sex variableswere identified with the exception of lifetime totalweeks of leave of absence. Ownership status did notappear to impact the number of days worked per week

Table I. Subgroups based on number of children and p

Women (n � 265)

Number ofchildren (n)

0 (84) 1-2 (132) 3-4 (49)

Case starts, 1999 180.3 � 102.6 188.5 � 117.6 176.2 � 105.

Work days perweek

4.01 � 0.76 3.60 � 0.84 3.46 � 0.77

Patients perwork day

48.19 � 21.58 47.84 � 23.83 44.67 � 19.8

Weeks leave ofabsence

3.75 � 15.83 11.42 � 20.41 52.61 � 110.(median � 0) (median � 6.5) (median � 1

Prospectiveretirement age

58.45 � 5.52 58.04 � 7.31 58.22 � 7.44

Table II. Subgroups based on age and practice characte

Women (n � 265)

Groups by age (y) (n) 29-36 (95) 37-44 (111)Case starts 1999 188.9 � 119.9 177.6 � 111.7Work days per week 3.74 � 0.90 3.63 � 0.76Patients per work day 47.7 � 24.2 46.9 � 22.2Weeks leave of absence 12.52 � 33.95 20.21 � 60.78

(median � 0) (median � 8)Number of children 0.87 � 0.98 1.77 � 1.18Prospective retirement age 57.06 � 5.05 58.04 � 6.70

or the number of patients seen per day. However,

ownership status did appear to be related to lifetimetotal weeks of leave of absences. Women who ownedtheir practices took fewer weeks of leave than womennonowners but more than men regardless of theirownership status. Ownership status was not importantto any of the variables with the exception of totalnumber of weeks of leave of absence.

Women with 1 child or more were more likely towork fewer hours than women with no children or thanany men. It appears that, for women, having children isa good predictor of the number of days worked perweek. No statistical difference was found betweenfemale orthodontists with no children and any subgroupof men for days worked per week. In evaluating thenumber of patients seen per day with number ofchildren as a factor, only men with 3 or more childrendiffered from the other groups: these men more sawmore patients per day than all other groups. They alsostarted significantly more cases in 1999 than all sub-groups of women, and more cases (but not statisticallysignificant) than men with fewer than 3 children. Thetotal number weeks of leave of absence in a respon-dent’s lifetime was significantly related to the numberof children. Women with 3 or more children tooksignificantly longer leaves of absence than any other

e characteristics (mean � SD)

Men (n � 283) Total (n � 548)

0 (26) 1-2 (131) 3-4 (126) 1.91 � 1.33

6.3 � 104.4 245.5 � 140.1 302.0 � 159.74 229.08 � 139.58(median � 200)

.19 � 0.51 4.27 � 0.65 4.19 � 0.51 3.98 � 0.75

.92 � 18.91 54.68 � 20.56 64.50 � 18.25 53.29 � 21.95

0 0.60 � 4.54 0.24 � 1.20 8.22 � 37.81edian � 0) (median � 0) (median � 0) (median � 0).63 � 4.70 60.47 � 4.57 59.62 � 9.25 59.15 � 7.0

Men (n � 283)

64 (59) 29-36 (32) 37-44 (98) 45-64 (153)� 94.2 270.2 � 196.2 267.8 � 141.5 266.7 � 144.7� 0.84 4.38 � 0.51 4.27 � 0.49 4.17 � 0.64� 19.8 56.6 � 20.7 59.7 � 17.3 59.5 � 21.6� 62.53 0 0 0.70 � 4.31

ian � 0) (median � 0) (median � 0) (median � 0)� 1.34 1.56 � 1.08 2.31 � 1.26 2.58 � 1.22� 8.84 57.20 � 5.54 59.71 � 4.99 60.77 � 8.27

ractic

4 20

4

9 49

702) (m

59

ristics

45-187.2

3.8147.6

16.47(med1.68

group. The number of children also appears to be


Blasius and Pae 287

highly correlative with the total weeks of leave awoman will take in her career. There were no statisti-cally significant correlations between number of chil-dren and projected retirement age for any group.

In a survey conducted by the American Dental Asso-ciation in 2002, it was reported that independent dentistsspent an average of 38.7 hours per week in their offices, ofwhich 32.9 hours were spent treating patients.7 Men in ourstudy worked a similar number of hours compared withthe dentists surveyed by the American Dental Association.Interestingly, women in our study worked more weeks peryear in 1999 than their male counterparts, contrary to thefindings for general dentists. Dolan1 summarized 3 inde-pendent studies in a review published in 1991. Sheconcluded that women dentists are less likely to bemarried and more likely to have fewer children comparedwith men. In our study, women were less likely to bepractice owners (89% of men and 68% of women). Theyworked only slightly fewer hours per week than men (43.1hours for men and 39.8 hours for women) and weeks peryear (48.2 weeks for men and 46.7 weeks for women),and were more likely to take a leave of absence for illnessand child rearing. Women also earned significantly lessincome. Our current findings concur with most of Dolan’sconclusions.

Keels et al8 found that, in the 23-64 year old agegroup, women respondents worked a mean of 47.6weeks per year and 30.8 hours per week in directpatient care. This is comparable with the results of ourstudy, in which women worked 48 weeks per year and29.3 hours per week in direct patient care. Bogardus etal9 reported that female oral and maxillofacial surgeonsworked 4 fewer hours per week (38.4 � 14.1) than theirmale counterparts (42.5 � 15.5) (not statistically sig-nificant). The relationship between mean hours perweek and whether a practitioner had children was alsoexamined. An interesting but not statistically significanttrend was noted: women with children worked fewerhours per week than those who were childless, but thepattern was reversed for men: those with childrenworked more hours per week than those without.

Professional work effort and productivity havemost often been measured in terms of hours or daydays worked per week, number of weeks worked per
year, or number of patients seen per week.10 In our
study, women reported spending 4 fewer hours perweek in direct patient care than men, and a similarnumber of hours in the office in nonpatient activities.Women also worked a half day less per week thanmen and saw 10 fewer patients per day.

CONCLUSIONS

Women in the specialty appear to be integratingthe demands of family and career. The women whoresponded to the survey were younger and had lesspractice experience than the men, yet age did notappear to affect any of the variables we evaluated.The women were much more likely to be married toa professional (dentist, physician, non-health profes-sional) who worked full time, and they had fewerchildren than their male counterparts. Men tended tohave spouses who were either not employed or wereemployed part time. More of the women respondingwere unmarried, compared with the men.

Our findings are static, taken at 1 time point. Itappears that most of the women who responded haveyoung children and are working a little less, presum-ably to spend more time on family commitments. Ifthis is true, the daily, weekly, and monthly hoursworked could change dramatically as the childrenage, eliminating the small sex gap. On the otherhand, because women orthodontists are more likelyto be married to another working professional, theirfamily income is likely to be greater, and, as thefamily becomes more financially secure, they mightchoose to work fewer hours or retire earlier. Ourstudy indicated some differences between male andfemale orthodontic specialists in 1999. However, thedifferences we observed might not alter the “ortho-dontic manpower-landscape” as significantly as eco-nomic changes will.11 Whether the differences take onclinical importance or remain the same over time has yetto be determined. Although the annual time devoted topractice was significantly lower for women (25 fewerdays than males in 1999), it has yet to be determined whatthe long-term implications of this finding are. As men inpractice continue to age and retire, there might be ashort-term shortage of orthodontists, but the impact of sexdisparities on the alteration of total supply in the specialty
is a future research topic.


288 Blasius and Pae

APPENDIX

Orthodontic Work Pattern QuestionnairePlease answer the following questions to the best of your ability. This information is for research purposes

only and WILL NOT be used for any other purpose. All responses are completely confidential. Thequestionnaire has an identification number to identify who has returned the survey. Once returned, allidentifying information will be discarded. You may skip any question.

Section 1: Demographic information: (for all to answer)

1. Your year of birth: 19 ____ (circle) Male or Female2. Year of graduation: a) Undergraduate- 19____

b) Dental school- 19____c) Orthodontic training- 19 ____

3. From which orthodontic program did you graduate? __________________________4. Are you currently: (circle) single, married, divorced, separated, or widowed?

(Unless currently married, skip to question 5)4a. Spouse’s year of birth: 19____4b. Is your spouse currently employed? (please check):

Full-time (30� hrs/ week) _____Part-time (�30 hours/week) _____Not currently employed _____

4c. What is the occupation of your spouse (does not have to be currently employed in that profession)? (pleasecircle)

a) Student d) Other health profession g) Houseparent/ Homemakerb) Dentist e) Non-health professional h) Otherc) Physician f) Non-health other occupation

5. How many children do you have? (circle) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 more5a. What were their years of birth?19____, 19____, 19____, 19____, 19____, 19____, 19____, 19____, 200____

Section 2: Practice information: (for all to answer)

6. Do you practice (please check all that currently apply):a) in a group limited to orthodontics _______ e) in academics _____b) in a group practice with other specialties_______ f) in the military _____c) as a solo practitioner ______ g) do not currently practice _____d) in another field not associated with orthodontics_____

7. If you have a group practice with other specialties- what are they? (please circle and identify how many doctorsfrom each specialty) N/ A

Periodontics (____) General Practitioners (____)Endodontics (____) Oral Surgery (____)Prosthodontics (____) Pedodontics (____)Dental Public Health (____) Other___ (____)

8. In how many offices do you work? (please circle) 1 2 3 4 5 more9. Is your main practice located in a (please circle): a) rural, b) suburban, c) urban area

10. Your typical hours per week in direct patient care are: ______other hours in office: ______

11. How many hours do you work in a typical workday? ______11a. What is the average number of patients you see in that workday? _____11b. How many days do you typically work per week? _____

12. What was your approximate number of case starts in 1999? (if a group practice, please only include yourcontribution) _________

13. What was your approximate number of case starts in 1998? _____________


Blasius and Pae 289

14. What is your average phase I case fee (including all records)? _______________15. What is your average phase II case fee (including all records)? _______________16. What is the approximate percentage of your phase II case starts that incorporated phase I treatment? (best

approximation) _________________%17. Why did you choose the orthodontic field? (please arrange with 1 being the most important reason and 6 being

the least important reason among those that apply)Professional autonomy _____ Part-time employment opportunities _____Financial prospects _____ Flexible working arrangements _____Career suits abilities _____Other (describe): _____, (________________)

18. How many weeks of vacation did you take in 1999? ________ weeks19. Did you take a leave of absence in 1999? Yes or No

19a. If yes, how many weeks (in 1999)? _________ weeks

20. Have you ever taken a leave of absence from the orthodontic profession since graduation from your orthodontictraining?Yes or No (if No skip to question 21)20a. If yes, how many total leave of absences have you taken? _________20b. Indicate, to the best of your ability, the total number of weeks you have taken during all leave of absences

during your career. _______________ weeks20c. The reason for such a leave was (please circle all that apply and indicate the approximate number of weeks

missed for each reason).a) Personal illness_______________ b) Family illness_______________c) Child rearing_______________ d) Maternity_______________e) Financial problems_______________ f) Financial security_______________g) Could not find a job_______________ h) Family problems_______________i) Other (describe)______________________________

21. Do you accept State assistance or Medicaid cases? Yes or No21a. If yes, how many of these cases, approximately, did you start in 1999? _____

22. Are you, in general, satisfied with the profession of orthodontics? Yes or No23. At what age do you plan to retire from practice? Approx. ______ years24. Have you ever worked as an associate? (please answer only if you were not buying into the practice during that

period) Yes or No24a. If yes, for how many years did you work as an associate? ______ years24b. Why did, or why do you prefer this type of working arrangement? (circle)

a) have young childrenb) prefer not to make geographic commitmentc) no headaches of practice ownershipd) other: (describe) ______________________________

25. Are you currently employed either on a salary, commission, percentage, or associate basis? (circle)Yes or No

If NO skip Section 3 and begin Section 4 (back page)

Section 3: Practice Information for Employees

26. How many additional years do you plan to continue working as an associate or employee (in present and/ orfuture offices)?

_____ years27. Are you planning to purchase the practice at which you are currently working?

Yes or No28. Are you planning to start your own practice from scratch? Yes or No29. Are you planning to buy an established office in which you are not currently working?

Yes or No


290 Blasius and Pae

30. Are you currently working as an associate while the office you have started is not at full capacity?Yes or No

31. Do you also own a practice, or part of a practice? Yes or No

If No skip to Section 5

Section 4: Practice information for those who are owners of a practice.

32. Indicate the average approximate overhead for all the offices in which you own: (percent) approx._______%.33. Do you have associates working in your practice? (circle) Yes or No

33a. If so, how many? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NA34. How many employees do you have working full-time (including associates)? _____35. How many part-time employees (�30 hrs/wk) do you have (including associates, all employees, and support

staff)? __________36. Would you prefer to take on an associate that is: (circle)

a) female b) male c) doesn’t matter36a. If you have a preference, please state your reason.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 5: For all to Answer

37. Would you like a synopsis of the results sent to you? Yes or No

Additional comments: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

turn
Thank you very much for your time and prompt re
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of the survey!

COMMENTARY

The intent of this study was to examine the impactthat female practitioners will have on the manpowershortage some predict for our specialty. As the numbersof female orthodontists continues to increase (26% ofcurrent orthodontic residents are women), the authorswonder whether women work less than men, spendfewer hours at the office, and see fewer patients. If so,how will this affect access to orthodontic care?

The design of this survey and study were adequate,and the response rate of 68.8% was excellent, comparedwith the normal response rate of 55.6%.1 The surveystudied practice patterns of today’s orthodontic profes-sionals, both male and female, to help evaluate futuremanpower changes and demands in our specialty.

Because most of the women responding to thesurvey had been in practice for less than 10 years, it isnot surprising that there were significant differencesbetween male and female respondents in terms ofincome and number of cases. According to the study,male orthodontists worked about 4 more hours perweek in direct patient care and saw 10 more patients perday. This result differs from the 2000 American Asso-ciation of Orthodontists study, which reported that
young female orthodontists worked 1 less hour per

work-pattern differences between male and female orthodontists

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