Objectives:
To assess dental professionals’ characteristics and willingness to participate in the future organization of Special Care Dentistry (SCD) for patients with motor disabilities (MD), patients with developmental disabilities (DD) and older adults (OA), in Flanders, Belgium.
Methods:
An online questionnaire survey around received education, providing care and future organization of SCD was performed between December 2020 and January 2021. Descriptive, bivariate (Mann-Whitney U Test, Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact Test) and binomial logistic regression analyses were performed with profession (dentist of dental hygienist) as explanatory variable (adjusted for covariates years of experience and gender). The project was approved by the Ghent University Hospital ethics committee (B6702020000556).
Results:
The survey was completed by 308 dentists (response rate 7.7%) and 51 dental hygienists (response rate 35.2%). There was a higher proportion of male dentists (40.6% vs. 1.6%; P<0.001) and dentists had more years of experience (median 31; range [1-55]) than dental hygienists (median 1; range [0-25]; P<0.001). A higher proportion of dentists treated SCD patients (96.4% vs. 87.0%; P<0.05). The adjusted models revealed that a higher proportion of dental hygienists than dentists had received education about all included SCD target groups (MD: OR 6.21, 95%CI [2.37-16.29]; DD: OR 6.21, 95%CI [2.37-16.29]; OA: OR 3.70, 95%CI [1.40-9.75]). Furthermore, more dental hygienists were open to (a) receive future education about SCD patients (MD: OR 6.70, 95%CI [1.88-23.83]; DD: OR 5.13, 95%CI [1.43-18.37]; OA: OR 2.47, 95%CI [0.91-6.70]), (b) use mobile dental equipment (OR 5.41, 95%CI [2.33-12.54]) and (c) be part of an oral healthcare network for patients with MD (OR 4.09, 95%CI [1.52-11.00]), patients with DD (OR 4.88, 95%CI [1.82-13.10]) or older adults (OR 4.64, 95%CI [1.73-12.43]) in future.
Conclusions
The results suggest that dental hygienists are more open to play a role within the future organization of SCD in Flanders
