Perception of nurses applying silver diamine fluoride to children's teeth: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: No studies have evaluated the unique potential of nurse-led silver diamine fluoride (SDF) application for children to bridge the gap in interprofessional collaboration. AIM: To investigate the attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of nurses regarding nurse-led SDF application at the well-child visit and identify possible barriers and make recommendations. DESIGN: Mixed methods design involving a questionnaire and semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. RESULTS: All eligible nurses (n = 110) completed the questionnaire, and 16 were interviewed. Questionnaire responses highlighted that nurses were not confident in providing oral health services (score: <3 of 5) beyond oral hygiene advice (score: ≥3.9 of 5) but believed that they should be providing these services for individuals with difficulty accessing care. Interviews reflected that most nurses viewed oral health care as an important part of paediatric health but were limited by knowledge, time and manpower. Most were willing to expand their job scope to include SDF application with formal education and training, competency assessments and approaches to counter time limitations. CONCLUSION: Where nurses are already providing basic oral healthcare, nurse-led SDF application could be the next step. Findings suggest that systemic changes should include strategies to empower and motivate nurses to apply SDF at the well-child visit.

Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry in screening children for dental caries by community health workers in a lower-middle-income country.

BACKGROUND: Tele-dentistry can be useful for dental caries screening of children, especially in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mobile phone photographs taken by a community health worker (CHW) for caries detection in Iran. DESIGN: Children aged 6-12 years were visually examined by a paediatric dentist. Following dental examinations, intraoral photographs were taken by a trained CHW. Two remote dentists assessed intraoral photographs for dental caries. Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry for caries detection was evaluated. In addition, the questionnaire about oral health and parents' views towards tele-dentistry was prepared. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-one children aged 8.74 ± 1.62 years participated. The caries prevalence was 30% for the whole dentition. Tele-dentistry demonstrated high accuracy, with a sensitivity exceeding 80% and specificity exceeding 90%. The inter-rater reliability for remote dentists' assessments to the gold standard dental examination ranged from substantial to almost perfect (kappa: 75%-93%). Additionally, 80% of parents whose children participated in this study had positive views towards tele-dentistry. CONCLUSION: Tele-dentistry was shown to be an alternative approach to clinical examinations for caries detection among school children. Employing non-dental care professionals in tele-dentistry has been emerged as a reliable and cost-effective approach, especially in LMICs.

Ayse Sadiye Güvendiren and Hatice Azra Demirelli: Turkey's first certified female dentists.

Ayse Sadiye Güvendiren and Hatice Azra Demirelli were the first Turkish female dentists. In a country that came out of the First World War and fought for her independence, they laid the foundations of women's presence in the Turkish dental community and took their honorable place in history with their courage, devotion, and determination.

Modelling a Consultant Workforce for the United Kingdom: needs-based planning for Dental Public Health.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a needs-based workforce planning model to explore specialist workforce capacity and capability for the effective, efficient, and safe provision of services in the United Kingdom (UK); and test the model using Dental Public Health (DPH). BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: Data from a national workforce survey, national audit, and specialty workshops in 2020 and 2021 set the parameters for a safe effective DPH workforce. A working group drawing on external expertise, developed a conceptual workforce model which informed the mathematical modelling, taking a Markovian approach. The latter enabled the consideration of possible scenarios relating to workforce development. It involved exploration of capacity within each career stage in DPH across a time horizon of 15 years. Workforce capacity requirements were calculated, informed by past principles. RESULTS: Currently an estimated 100 whole time equivalent (WTE) specialists are required to provide a realistic basic capacity nationally for DPH across the UK given the range of organisations, population growth, complexity and diversity of specialty roles. In February 2022 the specialty had 53.55 WTE academic/service consultants, thus a significant gap. The modelling evidence suggests a reduction in DPH specialist capacity towards a steady state in line with the current rate of training, recruitment and retention. The scenario involving increasing training numbers and drawing on other sources of public health trained dentists whilst retaining expertise within DPH has the potential to build workforce capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Current capacity is below basic requirements and approaching 'steady state'. Retention and innovative capacity building are required to secure and safeguard the provision of specialist DPH services to meet the needs of the UK health and care systems.

Olva Odlum BDS MSc LDS, the First Female Faculty Member in Manitoba and Dentist to the Indigenous Population.

Olva Odlum qualified as a dentist in England but went on to make a professional life in Canada. She became the first female member of the Manitoba dental faculty and provided care for many dentally-deprived groups, including disabled patients, those with cancer and members of the First Nation tribes.

What every dentist should know about oral mucosal wound healing.

The oral mucosa has superior wound healing potential compared to other mucosal tissues. The objective of this article is to review the current state of evidence on the mechanisms that govern accelerated oral mucosal wound healing and explore clinical approaches that facilitate the natural course of these processes.

Angelo Chiavaro (1870-1944), the first "American style" Italian dentist.

Angelo Chiavaro (1870-1944) took his Medicine Degree at the University of Florence and then moved to the University of Philadelphia; he was the first Italian doctor to enroll and graduate from the Philadelphia Dental School, obtaining in 1899 the diploma of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In 1915, he was the first full professor of Dental Clinics in Rome; in 1923, he established a "National School of Dentistry" in Rome and his aim was to confer the first Italian degree in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics following a University educational path similar to American schools.

Improving oral healthcare using academic detailing - design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies.

Background: Academic detailing (AD) is a defined form of educational outreach that can be deployed to intrinsically motivate practitioners towards improving quality of care. This paper describes the design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies. This proof of concept study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usefulness of AD, reinforced with feedback information to promote prevention-oriented, patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare delivery by general dental practitioners (GDPs). Methods: Six groups of GDPs will be recruited; two groups of six to eight GDPs in each of three countries - the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. GDPs will meet for four Academic Detailing Group (ADG) meetings for open discussions using comparative feedback data to stimulate debate about their dental practice performance and care delivery. Group meetings will be moderated using the AD methodology. Qualitative data will be collected through focus group interviews, an online discussion forum, field notes and debriefs of ADG meetings and analysed by conventional content analysis using MaxQDA software. Discussion: The results of the study will provide novel information on the feasibility, perceived acceptability and usefulness of AD and feedback data for GDPs to improve oral healthcare delivery.

Human Disease/Clinical Medical Sciences in Dentistry: Current state and future directions of undergraduate teaching in the UK and Ireland.

In March 2017, a group of teachers of human disease/clinical medical science (HD/CMSD) representing the majority of schools from around the UK and Republic of Ireland met to discuss the current state of teaching of human disease and also to discuss how the delivery of this theme might evolve to inform improved healthcare. This study outlines how the original teaching in medicine and surgery to dental undergraduate students has developed into the theme of HD/CMSD reflecting changing needs as well as guidance from the regulators, and how different dental schools have developed their approaches to reach their current state. Each school was also asked to share a strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of their programme and to outline how they thought their HD/CMSD programme may develop. The school representatives who coordinate the delivery and assessment of HD/CMSD in the undergraduate curriculum have extensive insight in this area and are well-placed to shape the HD/CMSD development for the future.

Multidimensional perfectionism trends among various core and allied health care professionals in a major Indian metropolitan city of Western India.

BACKGROUND: This exploratory study was done to assess the multidimensional perfectionism trends among various core and allied health care professionals in a major Indian metropolitan city of western India. Unlike other scales, here we considered both individual and intersubjective components of perfectionism by introducing three trait dimensions - self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism, and socially prescribed perfectionism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive type of study was conducted with total sample consisting of 500 participants with the main motive of evaluation and comparison of the multidimensional perfectionism among interns of the core and allied health care professionals from fields of medicine, dentistry, ayurveda, and homeopathy residing in the major Indian metropolitan cities of western India. RESULTS: This study showed that under the self-oriented domain, highest mean score is of medical faculty (73.97). In other-oriented domain, dental (62.62) and homeopathy (62.38) professionals have almost similar mean. Lowest being of ayurveda (61.65) compared to the highest score of the medical fraternity (67.62). In the socially prescribed domain, medical professionals (65.53) have the highest mean though it is the lowest mean value of the medical faculty compared to other two domains. Chi-square test is applied to the data for the questions among all the three domains. Correlation has been deduced by applying Pearson's correlation to the collected data from the study. The degree of correlation between self-oriented with self-oriented is 1, self-oriented with other-oriented is 0.763, and that of self-oriented with socially oriented is 0.678. CONCLUSION: Medical professionals scoring maximum in self-oriented perfectionism compared to other two domains reflect their extreme personal standards. Medical professionals are followed by dental professionals in self oriented perfectionism who are demanded of perfection in their routine practice. Ayurveda and homeopathy professionals scored better in other-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism attributing to their sentiments of fulfilling the expectations and demands of others.

Nurses' Awareness of and Current Approaches to Oral Care in a Community Hospital in Japan: A Longitudinal Study of Dental Specialists' Interventions.

Objective: This study aimed to increase nurses' interest and priority in oral care by implementing educational interventions, such as teaching oral care methods suitable for each patient in clinical settings, over a period of one year. Materials and Methods: This study included all 150 nurses working in Unnan City Hospital in Japan who answered a questionnaire comprising 19 questions regarding awareness, actual implementation status of oral care provided, burden, and involvement with oral and maxillofacial surgery department of the hospital, along with participants' characteristics. The rate of interest in learning, need for oral care, time spent in oral care, and oral health-related caregiver burden index (OHBI) score were compared between pre- and post-intervention groups. Results: The number and rate of valid questionnaires were 136 and 90.7%, respectively. The mean years of clinical experience were 19.3 ± 12.5 years; 93.4% of the nurses were women. After the interventions by dental specialists, the nurses' level of interest in and priority to oral care were significantly higher than those before the interventions (p < 0.001), regardless of nurses' background, such as age, gender, or years of experience. However, the "burden" did not statistically decrease. Conclusions: This study shows that dental specialists succeeded in significantly increasing nurses' interest in and priority to oral care by intervening in clinical practice but failed in decreasing nurses' burden of oral care. In the future, we would like to investigate the problems that hinder the reduction of the sense of burden, reduce the burden of nurses' oral care, and improve oral care.

Pre-doctoral dental faculty perceptions toward value-based care: An exploratory study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore pre-doctoral faculty perceptions toward implementation of value-based care (VBC) in didactic and clinical teaching. METHODS: This project was a collaborative effort between CareQuest and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Adams School of Dentistry introducing VBC to pre-doctoral dental faculty as part of a new curriculum. Following a faculty development session on VBC in June 2021, faculty and subject matter experts were invited to participate in qualitative interviews. Subject matter experts were interviewed to establish a baseline for VBC knowledge and understanding. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis was conducted by two analysts using ATLAS.ti and a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Six faculty and two subject matter experts participated in interviews. Although dental faculty demonstrated some understanding of VBC, they recognized that more training is required to build in-depth knowledge and implementation strategies for teaching dental students. Faculty discussed value-based concepts such as prevention-focused teaching, person-centered care, and disease management over invasive restoration of teeth, and how VBC is bringing about a paradigm shift in dentistry that needs to be reflected in dental education. They acknowledged a disconnect between VBC in didactic teaching versus clinical instruction. Those interviewed believed it would take time to shift faculty mindset and readiness to teach VBC, and continued efforts are needed at the leadership and faculty level for acceptance and implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Although dental faculty recognize that VBC can bring a shift in dental practice, more training and guidance to implement it in didactic and clinical teaching is needed.

Quality of Life and Wellbeing Parameters of Academic Dental and Nursing Personnel vs. Quality of Services.

Quality of life (QOL) is based on one's perception of one's position in life with respect to one's goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. It is also influenced by one's culture and value system, workflow, and workplace situation; in turn, QOL influences the quality of service one is able to provide. In this study, we aim to report on dental and nursing academics' QOL and wellbeing at the end of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals (nurses and dentists), but it is important to investigate their quality of life three years later; furthermore, knowledge about academic staff is very limited. The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) tool, recording the physical, psychological, social, and environmental dimensions of QOL, was used. The WHOQOL-BREF was modified using a spiritual coaching/mentoring approach in a two-step design and validation procedure. The modified SHQOL-BREF (Spiritual Healthcare version) designed for this study was uploaded and filled in online during April-June 2023. The staff (N = 120, 75% female) of the Departments of Dentistry (44.2%) and Nursing (55.8%) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens participated anonymously. QOL in terms of physical health was reported at a higher level (M = 72.2 points) compared to social relationships (M = 69 points), psychological health (M = 65 points), and environment (M = 59 points) (scores reported on a 0-100 scale). Overall, QOL was rated at 66 points, while satisfaction with one's health was at 72 points. Job satisfaction (M1 = 3.2) and spirituality (M2 = 3.0) were reported at a medium level on a five-point scale, while personal beliefs and values were reported at a high level (M3 = 4.0). The four areas of QOL are associated with job satisfaction, personal beliefs, and spirituality. Participant age presented a significant moderate-strong effect on physical health (F (3.97) = 2.89, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.08) and on the environment (F (3.97) = 2.80, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.08), and marital status had a significant effect on social relationships (F (1.97) = 9.66, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.09). Married participants reported consistently higher levels of QOL compared to single participants, for all age groups. The department had a significant moderate effect on social relationships (F (1.97) = 5.10, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.05), and education had a significant moderate-strong effect on psychological health (F (2.97) = 3.74, p < 0.05, η2p = 0.07). PhD-level participants in both departments presented higher levels of psychological health compared to those with lower educational levels. Also, participants from the Department of Dentistry reported higher levels of social relationship QOL in all educational groups compared to the Department of Nursing. Overall, according to our findings, PhD participants generally had better psychological health. Those under 40 years of age had higher levels of physical health and environmental quality of life, while married participants and those from the Department of Dentistry had higher levels of social interactions than those from the Department of Nursing. Strategic planning on sustainability and QOL initiatives should be introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic for dental and nursing academic personnel to promote resilience and QOL scores. Enhancing the QOL of academic staff is essential for developing health promotion activities at universities and can help boost performance among staff and students.

Specialist Networks Influence Clinician Willingness to Treat Individuals with Special Needs.

BACKGROUND: The South Australian Dental Service's Special Needs Network was established to support oral health professionals working within their statewide government-funded dental service to treat patients with special needs. This study aimed to investigate how a structured network relationship with specialists in special needs dentistry influenced the willingness of dentists to treat this group of patients. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the views of specialists and dentists involved in the South Australian Dental Service's Special Needs Network. Inductive thematic analysis identified emerging themes enabling completion of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. RESULTS: Dentists felt that a strength of the Network was a greater sense of collegiality, particularly for those working in rural areas. Although the inability to get immediate advice was seen as a weakness, dentists felt a more structured relationship with specialists improved communication pathways and resulted in more timely care. The aging workforce, systemic barriers in the public dental system, such as productivity pressures and infrastructure, and the lack of support from other health professionals were seen as ongoing barriers and threats. Regardless, dentists identified the use of telehealth and visiting specialists as future opportunities. Specialists felt that the Network was a valuable resource but were skeptical about its effectiveness, feeling that a limitation was the ability of dentists to recognize the complexity of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing support from and communication with specialists in special needs dentistry through a structured network improved the perceived ability and willingness of dentists to treat patients with special needs. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: This research suggests that providing support to dentists through a hub-and-spoke network that facilitates additional training, professional interaction, and improved communication with specialists in special needs dentistry may help overcome some of the current barriers to access to care experienced by individuals with special needs, particularly those associated with the willingness and capability of clinicians treat them.

COVID-19 Contraction Among Dental Healthcare Workers in the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics - A Retrospective Analysis During the Pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major challenges for the healthcare sector across the globe including dental healthcare workers (DHCWs) due to the increased risk of transmission of virus during aerosol-generating procedures. We conducted the present retrospective analysis determining the risk of contraction of COVID-19 infection among DHCWs since the outbreak of the pandemic for a year (March 2020 through March 2021) in Mumbai. Methods: In total, 18,058 patients visited the Nair Hospital Dental College for dental treatment related to the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics during the assessed year. All the patients were subjected to intensive triage, which included recording their body temperature, oxygen saturation level, travel, and COVID-19 exposure history. Results: A total of 26 DHCWs were responsible for attending and treating the patients with all the standard infection control measures. Seventy-four (0.40%) patients out of 18058 were referred for a nasal rapid antigen test (RAT) on giving a positive affirmation about COVID-19 like symptoms when screened at the triage. Of those 74 patients referred, 20 reported a positive nasal rapid antigen test and the infection was confirmed by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Among 26, 9 (34,7%) DCHWs were found to have contracted the infection during the assessed year. Conclusion: The analysis found that the risk of COVID-19 infection contraction amongst the DHCWs is considerably less. This could be attributed to the intensive triage and the preventive measures taken while rendering treatment.

Evaluation of a special needs dental workshop for health professionals and students in Trinidad and Tobago.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate a special needs dental workshop for dentists, allied dental health professionals and students in Trinidad and Tobago. Methods: This feedback study conducted in 2019-2020, included two surveys, one at the time of the workshop and a second survey one year after it. The first survey utilized an anonymous self-administered questionnaire enquiring about the reason for attendance, profession/education, demographics, and difficulties faced in treating patients with special needs. The follow-up study used an online survey tool assessing the workshop and queried comments/suggestions. The Chi-square test served for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 176 attendees 131 participated (response: 74.4%). The majority (81.5%) were females. Most attendees were dental students (50.3%) or dentists (38.9%). Knowledge acquisition (73.1%) and professional development (14.2%) were the main motives for attendance while communication (31.8%) and non-compliance (34.5%) were the main problems faced in treating patients with special needs. The follow-up evaluation (post-workshop) (response: 72.5%) showed that most participants (90.5%) assessed the workshop as positive; 80% reported an increase in their knowledge and 64.2% perceived a need for further education. Conclusion: These findings suggest a considerable demand for special needs dental services and continuing education and show that workshops can actively affect patient care.

Antispike Immunoglobulin-G (IgG) Titer Response of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-Vaccine (BNT162b2): A Monitoring Study on Healthcare Workers.

The secretion of IgG SARS-CoV-2 antispike antibodies after vaccination with BNT162b2 and the protection represent the response of the human organism to the viral vector symptomatic infections. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the immune reaction in health workers of the Polyclinic of Bari to identify the relationship of antispike titers with blood type, sex, age, and comorbidities. This prospective observational study (RENAISSANCE) had as its primary endpoint the assessment of serologic response to BNT162b2 at three blood titers: the first at 60 days after the second dose (3 February 2021); the second titer at 75 days after the first titer; and the third titer at 130 days after the second titer. Out of 230 enrolled staff members, all responded excellently to the mRna Pfizer (BNT162b) vaccine. Only one patient, 40 days after the second dose (3 February 2021), was positive on the swab control performed on 15 March 2021, although completely asymptomatic, and was negative on the subsequent molecular swab performed on 30 March 2021. All the patients responded to the mRNA Pfizer (BNT162b) vaccine with an antispike IgG level above 500 BAU/mL at the first antispike protein essay (60 days after the second dose on 3 April 2021); at the second titer (75 days after the first titer on 20 June 2021), 4 (1.7% of 230 enrolled) patients showed an antispike IgG level under 500 BAU/mL; at the third titer (130 days after the second titer on 30 June 2021, which means 9 months after the second dose), 37 (16.1% of 230 enrolled) patients showed an antispike IgG level under 500 BAU/mL. The data analysis demonstrated that patients belonging to blood group 0, regardless of their rhesus factor, showed the strongest level of antibodies compared to the other groups. No dependency was found between low antibodies level and sex or age. Molecular swab controls were performed every 15th of the month continuously. However, the enrolled patients' activity was at high risk because they carried out medical activities such as dental and surgical as well with droplets of water vaporized by the effect of turbines, piezosurgery. The vaccination campaign among health workers of the Policlinico of the University of Bari "Aldo Moro" led to an excellent serological response and the complete absence of COVID-19 incident cases, so the antibody response was excellent. The COVID-19 vaccine booster shot should be administered after 9 months and not without prompt antispike titer detection to assess if any sign of waning immunity is present in that specific patient.

Connecting Medical Personnel to Dentists via Teledentistry in a Children's Hospital System: A Pilot Study.

Investigators evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of a teledentistry pilot program within a children's hospital network between March, 2018, and April, 2019. The program connected dentists to medical personnel and patients being treated in urgent care clinics, a primary care clinic, and a freestanding emergency department via synchronous video consultation. Three separate but parallel questionnaires evaluated caregiver, medical personnel, and dentist perspectives on the experience. Utilization of teledentistry was very low (2%, 14/826 opportunities), but attitudes regarding this service were largely positive among all groups involved and across all survey domains. Uptake of new technology has barriers but teledentistry may be an acceptable service, especially in the case of dental trauma.

A Consideration of Professionalism for Dental Professionals.

Professionalism is an ubiquitous word in dentistry. Whilst we often feel we have an innate understanding of it, there is no single clear definition as to what professionalism in dentistry really means. Therefore, how can we truly comprehend what is expected of us? This article aims to explore current literature regarding professionalism and provide some clarity as to what this means with regards to dentistry in the United Kingdom. Guidance from the General Dental Council's (GDC) document Preparing for Practice1 breaks professionalism into four categories: (1) patients and the public, (2) ethical and legal, (3) teamwork, and (4) development of self and others. Investigation into each of these categories alongside the GDC's most recent study Professionalism: A Mixed-Methods Research Study2 enables an unambiguous view of professionalism in dentistry from the GDC's perspective. Whilst the GDC's Preparing for Practice and Professionalism: A Mixed-Methods Research Study are good starting points in improving our understanding of professionalism, it is still very much open to interpretation by the individual, owing to lack of a clear-cut definition. Overall, professionalism remains a vague and poorly defined concept in dentistry.

[Perpetrator or victim? The orthodontist Gustav Korkhaus (1895-1978) and his actual role in the Third Reich]. / Täter oder Opfer? Der Kieferorthopäde Gustav Korkhaus (1895­1978) und seine tatsächliche Rolle im "Dritten Reich".

PURPOSES: Gustav Korkhaus is widely regarded as the most important German orthodontist of the post-war period; in contrast, his relationship to National Socialism is much less well defined. Against this background, this article sheds light on the concrete scientific and (professional) political significance of Korkhaus; special attention is paid to his role in the Third Reich. METHODS: The study is based on primary sources from the Federal Archives Berlin, the State Archives North Rhine-Westphalia (Department Rhineland), and the University Archives Bonn. Contemporary publications were also included, as well as secondary literature on Korkhaus. RESULTS: Korkhaus was an international pioneer of orthodontics in many respects-as a scientist, expert politician, and developer of orthodontic innovations. During the Third Reich, he joined numerous Nazi organizations and enjoyed the backing of the "Reichszahnärzteführer" (Reich dentist leader) Ernst Stuck. After 1945, however, he portrayed himself as a political victim. CONCLUSION: Korkhaus did not commit Nazi crimes, but contrary to his claims, he was not a victim of the Nazi regime either. Rather, he served the Nazi state for career reasons and contributed to the omnipotence of the regime. He thus belongs to the group of political opportunists.