Allied restorative functions training in Minnesota: a case study.

Area of Science:

• Dental Hygiene
• Continuing Education
• Restorative Dentistry

Background:

• Minnesota Dental Practice Act was modified in 2003 to permit dental hygienists and assistants to place various dental restorations.
• Expanded functions for allied dental professionals are proposed to enhance patient access to care and practice productivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing education course for dental practitioners on restorative functions.
• To assess changes in participants' knowledge, confidence in technical skills, and confidence in implementing restorative functions.

Main Methods:

• A continuing education course was provided to 12 dental practitioners.
• Pre- and post-course assessments measured restorative content knowledge and confidence levels.
• Statistical analyses included matched pairs t-tests and Wilcoxen signed rank tests.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in participants' restorative content knowledge (p<.001) were observed.
• Confidence in content knowledge (p<.01) and technical skills (p<.05) significantly increased.
• No significant increase in confidence to implement restorative functions into practice was found (p<.7).

Conclusions:

• The continuing education course effectively enhanced dental practitioners' knowledge and confidence in restorative functions.
• Further research is needed to understand barriers to implementing restorative functions and improve training effectiveness.