-
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2022Soft skills include communication skills and personality traits that are important when choosing a dentist, but other factors within the dental office also seem to be...
Soft skills include communication skills and personality traits that are important when choosing a dentist, but other factors within the dental office also seem to be important for patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors that are important to people in a dentist as well as characteristics of the ideal dentist and to evaluate possible age-, gender-, and residence of living specific differences. A telephone survey with participants aged 35 years or older (ag—age group: ag 1: 35−50 years, ag 2: 70−84 years, ag 3: >85 years) in three German cities was conducted. Data were analyzed with respect to gender and age. Most of the participants (n = 298, 64.2%), regardless of their own gender, age, or place of residence did not care about the gender of the dentist. In general, the price of the treatment does not play a role in choosing the ideal dentist. Women differ significantly from men in their choice of dentist (ANOVA p < 0.001 (preference of non-smoker), ANOVA p < 0.001 (preference, that the dentist does not smell of smoke, importance of appearance (ANOVA p < 0.001) and psycho-social skills, etc.). As age increases, professional experience and psycho-social competencies are rated as important. With the increase in age, the mean value of the desired years of professional experience increases without significant differences between age groups. The importance of advanced training (ANOVA p < 0.001; Bonferoni correction: significant difference between ag 1 and ag 2 p < 0.001, and ag 1 and ag 3 p < 0.001) decreases with age. Especially for participants aged 70 to 84 years, a relationship of trust is important. Between the places of residence, statistical differences for almost all surveyed items were found (e.g., importance that the dentist speaks the patients’ native language ANOVA p < 0.001, Bonferoni correction: significant difference between Berlin and Leipzig, Berlin and Mainz, and Leipzig and Mainz (each p < 0.001), dentist has a specialization ANOVA p < 0.001, Bonferoni correction: significant difference between Berlin and Leipzig and Berlin and Mainz (each p < 0.001), etc.). Dentists should be trained to develop psycho-social skills to meet the special demands of the increasing older population.
Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Berlin; Dentist-Patient Relations; Dentists; Female; Humans; Male; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35886473
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19148621 -
Human Resources For Health Jan 2022Thailand has encountered an imbalanced dentist distribution and an internal brain drain of dentists from public to private health care facilities. To tackle these... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Thailand has encountered an imbalanced dentist distribution and an internal brain drain of dentists from public to private health care facilities. To tackle these challenges, the compulsory service (CS) program, which has been initially implemented for physicians, was extended for dentists.
METHOD
This policy and workforce document review describes the background, development, and policy implementation of the CS program in Thailand during the past three decades. Outcomes after policy implementation and future directions are also discussed. The information was gathered from the relevant policy and workforce documents available from 1961 to 2021.
RESULTS
In Thailand, junior dentists, specifically newly graduates, have to enroll in the CS program by working as oral health practitioners in public hospitals for at least 3 years. Dentists must pay a maximum fine of 400 000 baht (~ 12 571 USD) if they wish to skip the program. This fine is lowered according to the number of attending years in the program. CS program conditions are related to each university's admission track. The CS enrolled dentists receive several financial and non-financial benefits, including educational, employment-related, and living provisions. Altogether, successive Thai governments have launched directive policies to increase dentist distribution in rural areas and their retention in public hospitals. These policies have been implemented in 3 stages: (1) increase production of new dentists, (2) allocation of newly dental graduates to public hospitals, and (3) provide benefits for working in public hospitals.
CONCLUSION
During the past three decades, several public policies have been implemented to improve dentist retention and distribution to public hospitals across Thailand, particularly in rural areas. The present CS program may not completely resolve the oral health inequalities because the dentist retention rate in public hospitals depends on multi-dimensional considerations. Further modifications on the CS program and future well-planned policies are needed.
Topics: Dentists; Health Facilities; Humans; Physicians; Thailand; Workforce
PubMed: 34991605
DOI: 10.1186/s12960-021-00702-z -
International Dental Journal Oct 2017A spatially unequal distribution of dentists or dental care professionals (D/DCPs), such as therapists or hygienists, could reduce the quality of health services and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
A spatially unequal distribution of dentists or dental care professionals (D/DCPs), such as therapists or hygienists, could reduce the quality of health services and increase health inequities. This review describes the interventions available to enhance this spatial distribution and systematically assesses their effectiveness.
METHODS
Electronic databases (Cochrane CENTRAL, Medline, Embase, CINAHL) were searched and cross-referencing was performed using a standardised searching algorithm. Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, controlled before-and-after studies and interrupted time series were included. Studies investigating a minimum of one of four interventions (educational, financial, regulatory and supportive) were included. The primary outcome was the spatial distribution of D/DCPs. Secondary outcomes were access, quality of services and equity or adverse effects. This review was registered (CRD42015026265).
RESULTS
Of 4,885 articles identified, the full text of 201 was assessed and three (all investigating national policy interventions originally not aiming to change the distribution of D/DCPs) were included. In one Japanese study spanning 1980 to 2000, the unequal spatial distribution of dentists decreased alongside a general increase in the number of dentists. It remained unclear if these findings were associated. In a second Japanese study, an increase in the number of dentists was found in combination with a postgraduate training programme implemented in 2006, and this occurred alongside an increasingly unequal distribution of dentists, again without proof of cause and consequence. A third study from Taiwan found the introduction of a national universal-coverage health insurance to equalise the distribution of dentists, with statistical association between this equalisation and the introduction of the insurance.
CONCLUSIONS
The effectiveness of interventions to enhance the spatial distribution of D/DCPs remains unclear.
Topics: Dental Assistants; Dental Care; Dental Hygienists; Dentists; Health Policy; Humans; Workforce
PubMed: 28643435
DOI: 10.1111/idj.12316 -
GigaScience Jan 2022Long sequencing reads allow increasing contiguity and completeness of fragmented, short-read-based genome assemblies by closing assembly gaps, ideally at high accuracy....
BACKGROUND
Long sequencing reads allow increasing contiguity and completeness of fragmented, short-read-based genome assemblies by closing assembly gaps, ideally at high accuracy. While several gap-closing methods have been developed, these methods often close an assembly gap with sequence that does not accurately represent the true sequence.
FINDINGS
Here, we present DENTIST, a sensitive, highly accurate, and automated pipeline method to close gaps in short-read assemblies with long error-prone reads. DENTIST comprehensively determines repetitive assembly regions to identify reliable and unambiguous alignments of long reads to the correct loci, integrates a consensus sequence computation step to obtain a high base accuracy for the inserted sequence, and validates the accuracy of closed gaps. Unlike previous benchmarks, we generated test assemblies that have gaps at the exact positions where real short-read assemblies have gaps. Generating such realistic benchmarks for Drosophila (134 Mb genome), Arabidopsis (119 Mb), hummingbird (1 Gb), and human (3 Gb) and using simulated or real PacBio continuous long reads, we show that DENTIST consistently achieves a substantially higher accuracy compared to previous methods, while having a similar sensitivity.
CONCLUSION
DENTIST provides an accurate approach to improve the contiguity and completeness of fragmented assemblies with long reads. DENTIST's source code including a Snakemake workflow, conda package, and Docker container is available at https://github.com/a-ludi/dentist. All test assemblies as a resource for future benchmarking are at https://bds.mpi-cbg.de/hillerlab/DENTIST/.
Topics: Dentists; Genome; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Software
PubMed: 35077539
DOI: 10.1093/gigascience/giab100 -
Health Services Research Jun 2023To examine the factors that account for differences in dentist earnings between White and minoritized dentists.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the factors that account for differences in dentist earnings between White and minoritized dentists.
DATA SOURCES
We used data from the American Dental Association's Survey of dental practice, which includes information on 2001-2018 dentist net income, practice ZIP code, patient mix between private and public insurance, and dentist gender, age, and year of dental school graduation. We merged the data on dentist race and ethnicity and school of graduation from the American Dental Association masterfile. Based on practice ZIP code, we also merged the data on local area racial and ethnic composition from the American Community Survey.
STUDY DESIGN
We used a linear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to assess observable characteristics that explain the gap in earnings between White and minoritized dentists. To assess differences in earnings between White and minoritized dentists at different points of the income distribution, we used a re-centered influence function and estimated an unconditional quantile Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition.
DATA EXTRACTION METHODS
We extracted data for 22,086 dentists ages 25-85 who worked at least 8 weeks per year and 20 hours per week.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Observable characteristics accounted for 58% of the earnings gap between White and Asian dentists, 55% of the gap between White and Hispanic dentists, and 31% of the gap between White and Black dentists. The gap in earnings between White and Asian dentists narrowed at higher quantiles of the income distribution.
CONCLUSIONS
Compared to other minoritized dentists, Black dentists have the largest earnings disparities relative to White dentists. While the level of the explained component of the disparity for Black dentists is comparable to the explained part of the disparities for other minoritized dentists, the excess percentage of the unexplained component for Black dentists accounts for the additional amount of disparity that Black dentists experienced. Persistent income disparities could discourage minoritized dentists from entering the profession.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Humans; Middle Aged; Dentists; Ethnicity; Hispanic or Latino; Income; United States; White; Minority Groups; Asian; Black or African American; Economics, Dental; Economic Factors; Ethnic and Racial Minorities
PubMed: 36307983
DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14095 -
Stomatologija 2020Studies have shown that dentists are experiencing stress at work and it might have an impact on general health. Dental students have reported negative effect of stress...
OBJECTIVE
Studies have shown that dentists are experiencing stress at work and it might have an impact on general health. Dental students have reported negative effect of stress starting in undergraduate studies period. The various predisposing factors have been identified and determined. The aim of our study was to determine and compare stress among dentists of different specializations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted in March-September 2016 among 317 dentists. 151 (48%) form public and 166 (52%) from private clinics. All participants were dental practitioners working in Kaunas, Lithuania. A modified version of Occupational stress questionnaire (Institute of Health, Helsinki, Finland, 1992) was used. Chi-square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test Mann-Whitney U tests, Student's (t) criterion and logistic regression analysis model served for statistical analysis.
RESULTS
Majority of dentists were women (85%) and 61.8% of all participants were general practitioners. More general practitioners and paediatric dentists specialists were working in public clinics. The most stressful factors were: restrictions, work tension, and responsibility, while least stressful were value of work, work and life satisfaction (p<0.05). The intensive stress (>3) was indicated mostly by general practitioners, pediatric dentists and periodontologists.
CONCLUSIONS
Stress is more experienced by dentists working in public clinic being as a general practitioner or having specialization of periodontologist or pediatric dentist. Dentists should be encouraged to take stress management course to cope with.
Topics: Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dentists; Female; General Practitioners; Humans; Lithuania; Professional Role; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 33242029
DOI: No ID Found -
European Journal of Paediatric Dentistry Mar 2020Choosing a paediatric dentist is an important decision for parents. The mechanisms of this selection have hardly been studied. This study assesses the factors...
AIM
Choosing a paediatric dentist is an important decision for parents. The mechanisms of this selection have hardly been studied. This study assesses the factors influencing parents' decision choosing a specialised paediatric dentist for their child.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A questionnaire consisting of 30 items that could potentially be relevant to decision-making was sent nationwide in Germany to paediatric dentists to be given to the parents of new patients (n=450). Eighty-nine out of 102 returned questionnaires (response rate=22.7%) were evaluated.
RESULTS
Parent's and children's experience in previous dental visits played an "important" or "very important" role in choosing a paediatric dentist (78.8% and 62.2%, respectively). The most frequently mentioned recommendation for the paediatric dentist was by friends and acquaintances (86.5%). Recommendations from other dentists were often included in the decision making (60.7%), while specialist journals or Internet portals were less important for the respondents (15% and 19%, respectively). Most of the parents used Internet search engines and the practice website to obtain information.
CONCLUSION
Previous negative experience with general dentists was the main reason for visiting a specialised paediatric dentist. Recommendations came mostly from the close social environment and the qualifications were the most important feature for choosing a paediatric dentist.
Topics: Attitude to Health; Child; Child Behavior; Decision Making; Dentists; Humans; Parents; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 32183534
DOI: 10.23804/ejpd.2020.21.01.15 -
Pediatric Dentistry Jan 2023The purpose of this study was to evaluate practice patterns among dentist anesthesiologists for pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) undergoing...
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate practice patterns among dentist anesthesiologists for pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) undergoing sedation for dental procedures.
METHODS
An electronic nationwide survey was delivered to all members of the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists. The survey assessed provider training and comfort in treating pediatric patients with ASD, perioperative procedures for children with and without ASD, and preferred educational resources for the perioperative management of pediatric patients with ASD.
RESULTS
Respondents were 114 dentist anesthesiologists and residents (33.3 percent response rate). Respondents indicated a high comfort level for managing pediatric patients with ASD for sedation (mean equals 91.9±14.74 [SD] percent). The average number of patients with ASD who respondents treat per week was 3.48±2.44). Providers reported making scheduling and staffing accommodations for patients with ASD. More than half of respondents reported no difference between patient groups in medication dosing for sedation and medication regimens used intraoperatively; however, only 43.9 percent of providers indicated using equivalent preoperative medication regimens for both patient groups, and providers reported increased usage of preoperative anxiolytic techniques with patients with ASD. Importantly, 87.7 percent of respondents reported the same incidence of adverse events during the perioperative period between groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings from this survey suggest there are both similarities and differences in how dentist anesthesiologists practice with pediatric patients with and without autism spectrum disorders. Additional research is warranted to measure the clinical benefits of modified practices for patients with ASD and identify best practices for this vulnerable population.
Topics: Child; Humans; Anesthesiologists; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Dentists; Social Group; Workforce; Practice Patterns, Dentists'; Dental Care for Children
PubMed: 36879378
DOI: No ID Found -
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Jul 2007This review assesses the epidemiological literature describing dentist mortality and cancer incidence risk. In the dental workplace a variety of hazards may have been... (Review)
Review
This review assesses the epidemiological literature describing dentist mortality and cancer incidence risk. In the dental workplace a variety of hazards may have been historically present or currently exist which can impact dentists' long-term health, including their mortality and cancer incidence. The epidemiological literature of dentistry's health outcomes was reviewed with a focus on all cancers combined and cancers of the brain, lung, reproductive organs and skin. Relevant studies were identified using MEDLINE and NIOSHTIC through early 2006 and from references cited in the articles obtained from these databases. Dentist cancer mortality and incidence generally showed a favourable risk pattern for lung cancer and overall cancer occurrence. Nevertheless, several studies reported an increased risk for certain cancers, such as those of the skin and, to a lesser extent, the brain and female breast. These elevated risks may be related to social status or education level, or may alternatively represent the impact of hazards in the workplace. The evidence for an increased mortality or cancer incidence risk among dentists must be interpreted in light of methodological limitations of published studies. Future studies of dentists would benefit from the assessment of specific occupational exposures rather than relying on job title alone.
Topics: Dentists; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Neoplasms; Occupational Diseases; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 17259166
DOI: 10.1136/oem.2006.029223 -
International Journal of Paediatric... Jan 2021During the period of health emergency linked to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the paediatric dentists' management of oral health problems in children must have as...
BACKGROUND
During the period of health emergency linked to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the paediatric dentists' management of oral health problems in children must have as primary objective the control of the spread of the disease according to specific protocols aimed at minimizing the risk of viral transmission.
AIM
This paper examines the possible clinical conditions that may require intervention by the paediatric dentist, distinguishing clinical situations that fall into the category of paediatric dental emergencies from conditions of oral pathologies that normally do not represent an emergency. The definition of rigorous and highly effective infection control protocols in the dental settings must therefore be complemented by the development and strengthening of remote communication techniques with the parents, who must be adequately educated on preventive and palliative measures for the management of their children's oral health, with the aim of postponing clinical attendance to when the circumstances become favourable.
CONCLUSIONS
The experience gained with these approaches and models of treatment, where remote interaction techniques play a central role, will hone the communication skills of the paediatric dentist and will retain its usefulness even at the end of the current emergency period.
Topics: COVID-19; Child; Dentists; Humans; Oral Health; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 33012056
DOI: 10.1111/ipd.12737