Development of the Maturity Matrix Dentistry (MMD): a primary care dental team development tool

To adapt the Maturity Matrix (a self-evaluation practice development tool for medical primary care teams) for dentistry, creating the Maturity Matrix Dentistry (MMD), a team development tool for general dental practices.

The MMD was adapted by a multi-organisational dental working group and run from within the dental section, Wales Deanery. Individual feedback questionnaires were issued and the results used to refine the tool. It was piloted twice with a total of 67 practices (563 participants) with 104 participating twice.

The MMD was considered a useful tool for dental practices; agreement was high across job roles. Following participant feedback, refinement was made to the terminology used and the ordering of some of the dimensions. Facilitator involvement in the group session was highly valued. In the pilot, 97% indicated they intended to use the MMD to improve practice and 77% said they would use it to carry out an audit. Of those participating in a second visit, 78% reported an improvement against the dimensions and 83% had carried out an audit or were in the process of doing so.

Dental teams indicated high levels of satisfaction with the process, and self-reported improvements against the MMD dimensions are encouraging for future use.