The Anatomical Society’s Core Anatomy Syllabus for Dental Undergraduates

The Anatomical Society has developed a series of learning outcomes in consultation with dentists, dental educators and anatomists delivering anatomical content to undergraduate dental students. A modified Delphi methodology was adopted to select experts within the field that would recommend core anatomical content in undergraduate dental programmes throughout the UK. Utilising the extensive learning outcomes from two UK Dental Schools, and neuroanatomy learning outcomes that remained outside the Anatomical Society's Core Gross Anatomy Syllabus for Medical Students, a modified Delphi technique was utilised to develop dental anatomical learning outcomes relevant to dental graduates. The Delphi panel consisted of 62 individuals (n = 62) from a wide pool of educators associated with the majority of undergraduate dental schools in the UK, representing a broad spectrum of UK Higher Education Institutions. The output from this study was 147 anatomical learning outcomes deemed to be applicable to all dental undergraduate programmes in the UK. The new recommended core anatomy syllabus for dental undergraduates, grouped into body regions, offers a comprehensive anatomical framework with which to scaffold clinical practice. The syllabus, presented as a set of learning outcomes, may be used in a variety of pedagogic situations, including where anatomy teaching exists within an integrated dental curriculum (both horizontally in the basic sciences part of the curriculum and vertically within the clinical years)

Magnification in undergraduate endodontics teaching in the UK and Ireland: a survey of teaching leads in Endodontology

Aim: To investigate the use of magnification in undergraduate endodontic teaching in dental schools within the UK and Ireland and identify factors that may impact on levels of adoption. Methodology: An electronic questionnaire was distributed to teaching leads in undergraduate endodontics in all UK and Ireland dental schools. Results: Completed questionnaires were received from 15 of 18 course leads. The study revealed magnification is not universally embedded within the undergraduate curricula and the majority of schools had no expectation for students to use magnification, although it was encouraged. The study provided insight into teaching staff factors, student factors and institutional factors that impact upon the adoption of magnification in undergraduate endodontic teaching. Although course leads utilised magnification in their own practice, this did not translate into institutional expectation for students to use magnification. Barriers to adoption of such an institutional expectation included cost and lack of staff training. Conclusions: Magnification has become viewed as an essential part of endodontic practice. The dental operating microscope has the most significant impact on endodontic visualisation, however, the use of dental loupes in non‐surgical endodontics could be considered the minimum standard. The pedagogical dilemma faced by dental educators training undergraduates to behave in a manner that they themselves would not, cannot be rationalised on the basis of cost and lack of staff training. It is proposed that although significant, these barriers are not insurmountable and dental loupe use should become an expectation in undergraduate training in the UK and Ireland

A meta-ethnography of the facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of patient complaints processes in health-care settings

Objective: To synthesize experiences of the patient complaints process for patients and health-care professionals to identify facilitators and barriers in the successful implementation of patient complaints processes. This will assist the development of cultural change programmes, enabling complaints managers to incorporate stakeholder perspectives into future care. Design: Systematic literature search and meta-ethnography, comprising reciprocal syntheses of “patient” and “professional” qualitative studies, combined to form a “line-of-argument” embodying both perspectives. Data sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO (database inception to April 2015) were searched to identify international literature in primary and secondary health-care settings, involving qualitative data collection and analysis. Further studies were identified from hand-searching relevant journals, contacting authors, article reference lists and Google Scholar. Results: A total of 13 papers, reporting 9 studies from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, were included in the synthesis. Facilitators and barriers to the successful implementation of patient complaints processes were identified across the perspectives of both patients and health-care professionals. Patients sought to individualize the complaints process by targeting specific professionals who engaged in practices that undermined the identity of patients. In contrast, professionals obscured their own individualism through maintaining a collective identity and withholding personal judgement in relation to patient complaints. Conclusions: Complainants recognized health-care professionals as bearers of individual accountability for unsatisfactory care, in opposition to the stance of collective responsibility endorsed by professionals. Implementation of patient complaints processes must reconcile the need for individualized resolution, whilst striving to improve the future provision of health care through a collaborative approach between patients and professionals.</p

The INCENTIVE protocol: an evaluation of the organisation and delivery of NHS dental healthcare to patients--innovation in the commissioning of primary dental care service delivery and organisation in the UK

Introduction In England, in 2006, new dental contracts devolved commissioning of dental services locally to Primary Care Trusts to meet the needs of their local population. The new national General Dental Services contracts (nGDS) were based on payment for Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) awarded in three treatment bands based on complexity of care. Recently, contract currency in UK dentistry is evolving from UDAs based on volume and case complexity towards ‘blended contracts’ that include incentives linked with key performance indicators such as quality and improved health outcome. Overall, evidence of the effectiveness of incentive-driven contracting of health providers is still emerging. The INCENTIVE Study aims to evaluate a blended contract model (incentive-driven) compared to traditional nGDS contracts on dental service delivery in practices in West Yorkshire, England. Methods and analysis The INCENTIVE model uses a mixed methods approach to comprehensively evaluate a new incentive-driven model of NHS dental service delivery. The study includes 6 dental surgeries located across three newly commissioned dental practices (blended contract) and three existing traditional practices (nGDS contracts). The newly commissioned practices have been matched to traditional practices by deprivation index, age profile, ethnicity, size of practice and taking on new patients. The study consists of three interlinked work packages: a qualitative study to explore stakeholder perspectives of the new service delivery model; an effectiveness study to assess the INCENTIVE model in reducing the risk of and amount of dental disease and enhance oral health-related quality of life in patients; and an economic study to assess cost-effectiveness of the INCENTIVE model in relation to clinical status and oral health-related quality of life

A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists

OBJECTIVE: Access to adequate oral health care is deficient in many parts of the world. Many countries are now using dental therapists to increase access, particularly for children. To inform the discussion on dental therapists in the workforce, particularly in the United States, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded a review of the global literature to identify as many documents as possible related to the practice of dental therapists since the establishment of the School Dental Service in New Zealand in 1921. METHODS: Consultants in each of the countries considered to have a substantive literature on dental therapists were asked to participate in the research; seventeen in total. In addition to identifying and reviewing published articles, a focus of the research was on identifying \u27gray\u27 documents. Standard databases were searched for key words associated with dental therapists. In addition, searches were conducted of the governmental and dental association websites of all countries known to have dental therapists in their oral health workforce. RESULTS: Fifty-four countries, both developing and developed, were identified where dental therapists are members of the workforce. Eleven hundred documents were identified from 26 of these countries, with over 2/3 of them cited in the published monograph. Reliable evidence from the related literature and verbal communication confirmed the utilization of dental therapists in an additional 28 countries. Thirty-three of the countries were members of the Commonwealth of Nations, suggesting a mechanism of spread from New Zealand. Variable lengths of training/education existed for dental therapists with the tradition being 2 years postsecondary. In a few countries, the training of therapists and hygienists is now being combined in a three academic year program. Historically, dental therapists have been employed by government agencies caring for children, typically in school-based programs. Initiatives in some countries allow limited care for adults by dental therapists with additional training. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence indicates that dental therapists provide effective, quality, and safe care for children in an economical manner and are generally accepted both by the public and where their use is established, by the dental profession

The emerging dental workforce: why dentistry? A quantitative study of final year dental students' views on their professional career

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dental graduates are joining a profession experiencing changes in systems of care, funding and skill mix. Research into the motivation and expectations of the emerging workforce is vital to inform professional and policy decisions. The objective of this research was to investigate final year dental students' perceived motivation for their choice of career in relation to sex, ethnicity and mode of entry.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Self-administered questionnaire survey of all final year dental students at King's College London. Data were entered into SPSS; statistical analysis included Chi Squared tests for linear association, multiple regression, factor analysis and logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A response of 90% (n = 126) was achieved. The majority were aged 23 years (59%), female (58%) and Asian (70%). One in 10 were mature students. Eighty per cent identified 11 or more 'important' or 'very important' influences, the most common of which were related to features of the job: 'regular working hours' (91%), 'degree leading to recognised job' (90%) and 'job security' (90%). There were significant differences in important influences by sex (males > females: 'able to run own business'; females > males: 'a desire to work with people'), ethnic group (Asians > white: 'wish to provide public service', 'influence of friends', 'desire to work in healthcare', having 'tried an alternative career/course' and 'work experience') and mode of entry (mature > early entry: 'a desire to work with people'). Multivariate analysis suggested 61% of the variation in influences is explained by five factors: the 'professional job' (31%), 'healthcare-people' (11%), 'academic-scientific' (8%), 'careers-advising' (6%), and 'family/friends' (6%). The single major influence on choice of career was a 'desire to work with people'; Indian students were twice as likely to report this as white or other ethnic groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Final year dental students report a wide range of important influences on their choice of dentistry, with variation by sex, ethnicity and mode of entry in relation to individual influences. Features of the 'professional job', followed by 'healthcare and people' were the most important underlying factors influencing choice of career.</p