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Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Utilisation of dental auxiliaries--attitudinal review from six developed countries
Anthony S Kravitz1, Elizabeth T Treasure
1School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Health Park.
Objective:
To identify reasons for the development of dental auxiliaries across six developed countries and to explore attitudes towards them.
Design:
Literature review; semistructured interviews with key informants.
Setting:
Interviews in each selected country; Belgium, Greece, Finland, U.K., Canada and New Zealand.
Materials And Methods:
For each country, representatives of key informants were interviewed.
Results:
The introduction of dental auxiliaries in many countries was as a result of workforce shortages. There has been no development of dental auxiliaries in Belgium or Greece largely because of perceived lack of need by the representative respondents. In Canada, Finland, New Zealand and the U.K. the introduction of clinical dental auxiliaries was a result of shortages of workforce and high levels of disease. Concerns amongst dentists were about the pace of the increased scope of practice for auxiliaries and by auxiliaries about lack of career development.
Conclusions:
Two distinct professional attitudes towards dental auxiliaries were found--in Belgium and Greece, there is little or no support compared with the other countries, where, in general, professional attitudes support the use of dental hygienists but are less supportive of therapists and denturists.
