The Influence of Dentists' Profile and Health Work Management in the Performance of Brazilian Dental Teams.

To evaluate the association between dentists' profile and health work management with the performance of primary care dental teams in the Brazilian National Health System, both nationally and regionally. Secondary data analysis from a Brazilian National Programme that evaluated 18,114 Brazilian dental teams, working in the public sector, between 2013 and 2014. Twenty-four independent variables taken from dentists' profile and dental team management characteristics were analysed to assess their influence on reported "dental team performance." An estimated score was generated from their performance on 20 dental procedures by an item response theory model. Multiple linear regression models were performed for each Brazilian geographical region, separately and for the whole of Brazil. p values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Two variables related to dentists' profile, "having graduate studies" (ß = 0.151) and "undertaking continuing professional development training" (ß = 0.101), were associated with enhanced dental team performance in all five Brazilian geographical regions and nationally. The dental team management variables of "having a flexible dental appointment list" (ß = 0.218) and "monitoring oral health indicators" (ß = 0.132) also contributed to improve team performance in each of the regions and nationally. Dentists' profile influenced the performance of dental teams from south region more than the other regions. The findings suggest that continuing professional development, including postgraduate education, and strategic management characteristics are important for primary dental care performance and should be reflected in health policy initiatives in support of quality care. Regional factors could be considered for health care management.

Repercusiones de la pandemia de COVID 19 en la atención odontológica, una perspectiva de los odontólogos clínicos / Implications of COVID-19 pandemic for dental care: a perspective for clinical dentists

RESUMEN: Introducción: La atención odontológica va a cambiar rotundamente debido a la pandemia de COVID-19. En el futuro cobrará mayor importancia, surgirán transformaciones rotundas y necesarias, pero mejorará. Objetivo: Conocer las perspectivas de los odontólogos clínicos peruanos sobre los cambios y repercusiones que tiene y tendrá la pandemia COVID-19 en la atención odontológica. Materiales y métodos: Estudio cualitativo con enfoque fenomenográfico que utilizó la técnica de la entrevista a profundidad a dentistas clínicos en el contexto de la cuarentena en el mes de abril de 2020 en Lima (Perú). La entrevista se efectuó de forma digital y las categorías incluyeron: rol del odontólogo, inconvenientes en la práctica asistencial, soluciones y estrategias frente a la pandemia, apreciaciones sobre las medidas del gobierno, medidas de prevención, atención odontológica en el futuro, y protocolos de atención frente a un paciente con diagnóstico de coronavirus. Resultados: Los odontólogos tienen claro que tanto la indumentaria como los equipos en el consultorio deben estar condicionados a las medidas de protección para proteger tanto al paciente como al personal de salud presente; esto incluye que los ambientes deban estar distanciados, espaciar la atención entre paciente y paciente. Conclusiones: Existe una gran preocupación en los dentistas por el cierre repentino de las clínicas dentales y aumento de personas infectadas, ya que son la primera línea de contagio al tener contacto directo con los pacientes. Los servicios dentales van a tener que adaptarse a los nuevos lineamientos y protocolos dados. Cambiará el modo de atención odontológica priorizando a las urgencias y emergencias, para aminorar la difusión de la enfermedad y lograr una atención más segura y adecuada(AU)

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Dental care is going to change dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, it will become more important; resounding and necessary changes will emerge, but it will improve for good. Objective: To know the perspectives of Peruvian clinical dentists on the changes and repercussions that the COVID-19 pandemic has and will have in dental care. Materials and methods: Qualitative study with a phenomenographic approach that used the technique of in-depth interview with clinical dentists in the context of quarantine in April 2020 in Lima (Peru). The interview was carried out digitally and the categories included: role of the dentist, inconveniences in healthcare practice, solutions and strategies in the face of the pandemic, insights from government measures, prevention measures, future dental care, and protocols for care in front of a patient diagnosed with coronavirus. Results: Dentists are clear that both clothing and equipment in the office must be subject to protective measures to protect the patient and health personnel present; this includes that environments must be spaced, spacing patient-patient care. Conclusions: There is great concern among dentists over the sudden closure of dental clinics and the increase of infected people since they are on the first line of contagion when having direct contact with patients. Dental services will have to adapt to the new guidelines and protocols given. The way of dental care will change, prioritizing urgencies and emergencies to lessen the spread of the disease and achieve safer and more adequate care(AU)

Connecting With Your Dentist on Facebook: Patients' and Dentists' Attitudes Towards Social Media Usage in Dentistry.

BACKGROUND: Social media has begun to proliferate across medical areas and transformed how medical professionals serve and interact with their patients. It offers a new communication avenue that has the potential to engage patients and, hence, may be used to create value for both medical professionals and patients. In dentistry, even though patients and dentists frequently use social media in their personal lives, little is known about their attitudes and expectations toward using social media for professional interactions. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we focus on the role of social media in dentistry. Specifically, we explore patients' and dentists' attitudes toward social media usage and their current online behaviors in this context. Furthermore, we examine potential challenges and opportunities regarding dentists' adoption of social media practices. METHODS: This research employed a large-scale online survey of 588 patients and 532 dental professionals. We assessed the attitudes, expectations, and social media behaviors from both patients' and dentists' perspectives. RESULTS: We found that more than 55% (290/532) of dentists in our sample have accounts for their dental practice on various social media platforms. Interestingly, while 73% (374/511) of patients did not expect their dental practice to have a social media presence, and 44% (207/468) thought that establishing a friendship with their dentists is not appropriate, the findings show that 36% (164/460) of patients had searched for their dentists, and 44% (207/470) of them were happy to establish contacts with dentists on social media. Furthermore, the findings highlight that patients were interested in exploring additional information such as online reviews and the qualifications of their dentists on Facebook pages. For dentists, more than half (375/432, 83%) of them in our sample thought that social media marketing is more efficient compared to traditional marketing. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings revealed some key challenges and opportunities to utilize social media in dentistry. For both patients and dentists, the role of social media in dental services remains vague, and both parties still share concerns about connecting with each other on social media platforms. However, there also exists a sizeable number of patients who are already comfortable to connect with their dentists on social media sites such as Facebook. The current findings show that there is an opportunity for dental practices to trade upon a more active social media presence for enhanced patient interaction and engagement.

Market structure and competition in the healthcare industry : Results from a transition economy.

The present paper provides first empirical evidence on the relationship between market size and the number of firms in the healthcare industry for a transition economy. We estimate market-size thresholds required to support different numbers of suppliers (firms) for three occupations in the healthcare industry in a large number of distinct geographic markets in Slovakia, taking into account the spatial interaction between local markets. The empirical analysis is carried out for three time periods (1995, 2001 and 2010) which characterise different stages of the transition process. Our results suggest that the relationship between market size and the number of firms differs both across industries and across periods. In particular, we find that pharmacies, as the only completely liberalised market in our dataset, experience the largest change in competitive behaviour during the transition process. Furthermore, we find evidence for correlation in entry decisions across administrative borders, suggesting that future market analysis should aim to capture these regional effects.

La investigación científica en odontología / Scientific research in dentistry

La investigación científica es la base principal del desarrollo de la civilización. A partir de la investigación científica, se obtienen prodigiosos resultados en la salud, la economía,la industria y el progreso de la humanidad. Los grandes descubrimientos científicos transforman a la humanidad. Sin laciencia básica o fundamental, no se pueden lograr soluciones rápidas, eficientes y duraderas. La ciencia básica y sus descubrimientos han permitido resolver problemas importantes y críticos. El Dr. Bernardo A. Houssay, premio nobel 1947, siempreafirmaba que el adelanto científico dependía de la existencia de científicos de larga y cuidadosa formación. La investigación científica tiene como meta actualizar los conocimientospara mejorar las profesiones. La formación de un profesional no termina con su graduación, sino que es un quehacer constante de conocimientos. La actualización continua y la investigación permiten profundizar los conocimientos y aplicarlos en la práctica profesional. Desde que, en 1887, se propusieron estudios en odontología, grandes maestros argentinos de esta especialidad sedestacaron por generar nuevos conocimientos e innovacionesen estudios odontológicos. La importancia de la investigacióncientífica en la formación del odontólogo reside en mantenere incrementar la calidad del ejercicio de la profesión. Por eso, es preciso fomentar la investigación científica en los jóvenes y futuros odontólogos.

Constrained posture in dentistry - a kinematic analysis of dentists.

BACKGROUND: How a dentist works, such as the patterns of movements performed daily, is also largely affected by the workstation Dental tasks are often executed in awkward body positions, thereby causing a very high degree of strain on the corresponding muscles. The objective of this study is to detect those dental tasks, during which awkward postures occur most frequently. The isolated analysis of static postures will examine the duration for which these postures are maintained during the corresponding dental, respectively non-dental, activities. METHODS: 21 (11f/10 m) dentists (age: 40.1 ± 10.4 years) participated in this study. An average dental workday was collected for every subject. To collect kinematic data of all activities, the CUELA system was used. Parallel to the kinematic examination, a detailed computer-based task analysis was conducted. Afterwards, both data sets were synchronized based on the chronological order of the postures assumed in the trunk and the head region. All tasks performed were assigned to the categories "treatment" (I), "office" (II) and "other activities" (III). The angle values of each body region (evaluation parameter) were examined and assessed corresponding to ergonomic standards. Moreover, this study placed a particular focus on static positions, which are held statically for 4 s and longer. RESULTS: For "treatment" (I), the entire head and trunk area is anteriorly tilted while the back is twisted to the right, in (II) and (III) the back is anteriorly tilted and twisted to the right (non-neutral position). Static positions in (I) last for 4-10s, static postures (approx. 60%) can be observed while in (II) and (III) in the back area static positions for more than 30 s are most common. Moreover, in (II) the back is twisted to the right for more than 60 s in 26.8%. CONCLUSION: Awkward positions are a major part of a dentists' work. This mainly pertains to static positions of the trunk and head in contrast to "office work." These insights facilitate the quantitative description of the dentist profession with regard to the related physical load along with the health hazards to the musculoskeletal system. Moreover, the results allow for a selective extraction of the most unfavorable static body positions that dentists assume for each of the activities performed.

[Gender-related differences in working practice and professional growth of dentists]. / Osobennosti trudovoi deiatel'nosti i vozmozhnosti professional'nogo rosta vrachei-stomatologov s uchetom ikh gendernykh razlichii.

The paper presents some aspects of professional growth, continuous education and working conditions of female dentists having impact on treatment quality and dental service state in general. Questionnaire survey was carried out in 124 dentists, both male and female, aged 22 to 60 years. The study revealed gender asymmetry influencing their competitive ability, physical and emotional well-being.

The Evolving Role of Dental Responders on Interprofessional Emergency Response Teams.

Disaster and pandemic response events require an interprofessional team of health care responders to organize and work together in high-pressure, time-critical situations. Civilian oral health care professionals have traditionally been limited to forensic identification of human remains. However, after the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York, federal agencies realized that dentists can play significant roles in disaster and immunization response, especially on interprofessional responder teams. Several states have begun to incorporate dentists into the first responder community. This article discusses the roles of dental responders and highlights legislative advancements and advocacy efforts supporting the dental responder.

[Innovative activity of dental faculty staff of Omsk State Medical University: results, problems and prospects].

The article summarizes innovative activity in Omsk State Medical University (OSMU) and contains the review of innovative developments of staff of dental faculty of OSMU (a line of gels for caries prevetion, the DENTEST diagnostic unit, technology of tooth shape modular restoration, personified therapy.of patients with periodontal disease, caries diagnosis and periodontontal disease prognosis software, a set of the training materials on esthetic modeling of teeth, personification of clinical approaches in oral bioaesthetic rehabilitation, etc.). The analysis of the factors stimulating and complicating innovative detail in medical school, problems of introduction of medical innovations, lack of system of an assessment of medical technologies in Russia, regulations of the organization of innovative activity in medical schools is carried out, the prospects of their solution connected with decision-making at the state level are formulated.

California's Clinical Dental Team: Evolving Together With an Eye to the Future.

California dentists enjoy some of the most well-trained clinical teams in the country. In these changing times, reflecting on our collective history may help inform collaboration and innovation that will serve us well as we create new ways to care for our patients and thrive in our professional lives.