Senior dentists' perceptions of dental therapists' roles and education needs in Malaysia

To describe the perceptions of senior dental officers (SDOs) on the roles of dental therapists (DTs) and their education needs in Malaysia.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered postal questionnaire targeting all 112 SDOs in the Malaysian Ministry of Health. The SDOs were asked about their perceptions of DT's roles in relation to clinical tasks, oral health promotion, administration and the dental team and their perceptions of DT's future education needs. Data were analysed using spss software, version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

The response rate was 60%. A majority of SDOs were women (68%) with a mean age of 44.9 (SD: 8.04). Generally, the majority of SDOs perceived the current roles of DT in non-complex clinical tasks such as examination and diagnosis, preventive treatment, extraction of deciduous teeth and oral health promotion as very important. Fewer than half of SDOs perceived DT's role in the extraction of permanent teeth as important. Most SDOs perceived the need to train DT in 'scaling and polishing for adults' (80.5%), 'delivering inferior alveolar nerve block' (57.3%) and 'pulp therapy' (59.2%). They also had positive perceptions of providing education for DT up to degree level (70.8%).

This study suggests that Malaysian SDOs have positive perceptions of the current roles of DT and of the expansion of some of their clinical tasks to include broader client groups through further training and education. These findings indicate a need to revise the current curriculum and legislation pertaining to DT's education and scope of practice in Malaysia.