[What do General Practitioners and Dentists Report about their Cooperation? A Qualitative Exploration]

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Oral Health
• General Practice

Background:

• Established links exist between oral health and systemic conditions.
• Effective cooperation between general practitioners (GPs) and dentists is vital for comprehensive patient care, including prevention.
• Current administrative referral processes between GPs and dentists are not statutorily defined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how dentists and general practitioners integrate knowledge of oral-systemic health associations into their daily practice.
• To understand the current level and nature of cooperation between GPs and dentists regarding oral and general health.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 28 semi-structured interviews with GPs and dentists across three diverse regions in Baden-Wurttemberg.
• Interviews were conducted in participants' offices, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis by dentists and sociologists.

Main Results:

• Both GPs and dentists possess partial knowledge of oral-systemic health links, but interprofessional contact is infrequent.
• GPs primarily refer patients to dentists for poor dental status, rarely for systemic issues like headaches or facial pain.
• Dentists contact GPs mainly to clarify patient medication, particularly anticoagulants before invasive procedures; preventive aspects are minimally addressed.
• Collaboration is largely dependent on personal acquaintance rather than established protocols.

Conclusions:

• Statutory separation between medical and dental professions significantly impacts interprofessional cooperation.
• The oral cavity is often treated as a separate entity in daily care, impeding holistic patient management.
• Limited knowledge exchange and ingrained daily routines act as barriers to integrated oral and general healthcare.