Effects of Implicit Bias in Clinician Decision-making of Tooth Restorability

July 14, 2026 updated by: New York University
This study aims to determine the association between race and clinical decision-making for dental treatment planning. The investigators conducted cross-sectional survey on participants, who are randomized to one of two patient race conditions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study is a randomized cross-sectional survey which is marketed as an exploration of tooth restorability. The condition of randomization is patient race. Dentist participants are randomized to a patient (either Black or White race) and provided with a clinical vignette. The participants are asked to review the clinical vignette and provide their treatment recommendation. Then, they answer questions on dentist and patient demographics. Next, they complete two Implicit Association Tests related to race and dentistry. Finally, the participants are given a debrief of the true purpose of the study. The survey is completed in one sitting.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

125

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10010
        • New York University College of Dentistry

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • General dentist
  • Actively in clinical practice in the United States

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Other specialties of dentistry

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Black Patient race condition
Other: Black Patient race condition
The participants who are randomized to this group will be assigned the Black patient.
Other: White Patient race condition
Other: White Patient race condition
The participants who are randomized to this group will be assigned the White patient.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Treatment Decision
Time Frame: Day 1 (Day of survey start and completion)
The participants answer a survey question asking if they would recommend a Root Canal Treatment or Tooth Extraction for the patient. The survey does not require a follow-up, so the outcome is measured when the participant completes the survey in one sitting.
Day 1 (Day of survey start and completion)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Implicit Association Test Score
Time Frame: Day 1 (Day of survey start and completion)
The Implicit Association Test is a validated socio-cognitive test. The score ranges from -1 to 1. The survey does not require a follow-up, so the outcome is measured when the participant completes the survey in one sitting.
Day 1 (Day of survey start and completion)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

New York University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 12, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 10, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

December 10, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 7, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 14, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 14, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB 2025-9496

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Implicit Bias

Clinical Trials on Black Patient race condition

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Belgium

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe