New paper on professionalism in the dental practice

Read our latest open access paper on Professionalism in the dental practice. Dorottya Cserző, Alison Bullock, and Sophie Bartlett worked together with Jonathan Cowpe from the School of Dentistry to analyse the data collected for the Professionalism in dentistry and preparedness for practice project commissioned by the General Dental Council. The paper compares perspectives on professionalism from members of the public, dentists and dental care professionals. We would like to thank Alan Gilmour, Ilona Johnson, and Rhiannon Jones for facilitating the focus groups.

The paper examines views on professionalism in the dental practice workplace through a thematic analysis of data from eight focus groups. Focus groups were conducted with 19 dentists, 13 dental care professionals and 19 members of the public in England and Wales. The four most prominent themes in the focus group data were: communication, the cost of treatment, the role of the dental team and consequences of professionalism concerns. Participants agreed that these are fundamental professionalism issues, although there was some difference of opinion about addressing them. There was disagreement about the responsibilities of different members of the dental team in maintaining professionalism.

The authors conclude that communication skills training should be a central part of the professionalism at all levels of training. Education about team working could foster a more collaborative approach to professionalism across the dental team and support good, patient-centred oral healthcare. Support and guidance are required to help professionals reflect and learn from mistakes.

Read the full article here.