The Auditing of Tabriz General Dentistry Offices to Assess their Compliance with Licensure Standards in 2016

Licensure is a healthcare evaluation approach which has particular importance in compliance with minimum requirements of healthcare centers for getting started and continuing their performance. The aim of this study was auditing of Tabriz general dentistry offices based on licensure standards.
This descriptive- analytical study was done in 197 general dentistry offices in Tabriz city selected randomly. The required data were gathered using a researcher-made checklist with 75 questions in 7 main dimensions including physical environment, medical equipment, nonmedical equipment, human resources, medical records and informatics, policy consideration, and hygiene and infection control. Data analysis was done using t-test, ANOVA and Tukey statistical tests and through SPSS19 software package.
The total rate of compliance with licensure standards in Tabriz dentistry offices was 78.5%. The highest and lowest rates of compliance were respectively in dimensions of “medical records” (92.3%) and “non-medical equipment” (66.4%). There was significant relationship between “job experience of dentists” and standards compliance score in “law and policy consideration” and “hygiene and infection control” dimensions; so that, more job experience was associated with higher compliance score in these dimensions.
Despite acceptable status of the assessed dentistry offices in regard to licensure requirements, there are still shortcomings in some dimensions. No doubt, the obtained results could help authorities to improve the status of dentistry offices and increase community satisfaction.