Contemporary dental practice in the UK: demographic data and practising arrangements

Abstract

Objectives:To investigate, by questionnaire, various aspects of primary dental care provision in the North West of England and Scotland. Method: A questionnaire containing 79 questions was sent to 1,000 practitioners, selected at random, in the North West of England and Scotland. Non-responders were sent another questionnaire after a period of 4 weeks had elapsed. Results: Overall a response rate of 70% was achieved. The majority of practitioners were practice principals (65%), working in a group NHS practice (80%) located in a city or town centre (49%). On average 10-20 patients were treated each session with fewer patients treated per session under private arrangements. Many practitioners were found to lack hygienist support (44%) and to employ unqualified dental nurses (82%). Younger practitioners were more likely than senior colleagues to have access to up-to-date computers whilst 37% and 74% of respondents never used CAL programmes or magnification respectively. Contemporary cross-infection control standards were used by the majority of practitioners, although 3% of practitioners reported only autoclaving their handpiece once a day. Conclusions: The majority of practitioners, involved in this study, worked under National Health Service (NHS) regulations as principals in a group practice where the workload was greater than the private/independent sector. Contemporary cross-infection procedures were used routinely. In contrast computer-aided learning programmes and magnification were not used routinely. The practitioners in this study employed significant numbers of unqualified dental nurses.

Musculoskeletal neck and back pain in undergraduate dental students at a UK dental school — a cross-sectional study

“…In this cross-sectional study there was a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the upper back, lower back and neck regions of (26) 15 (18) 11 (13) Lower back: up to 30 days 149 (38) 26 (29) 32 (39) 19 (41) 36 (43) 36 (41) Lower back: over 30 days 54 (14) 10 (11) 9 (11) 4 (9) 16 (19) 15 (17) Pain experienced in the last week (no. of respondents, %) Neck 70 (18) 14 (16) 9 (11) 13 (28) 18 (21) 16 (18) Upper back 77 (20) 14 (16) 8 (10) 12 (26) 25 (30) 18 (21) Lower back 85 (22) 17 (19) 13 (16) 11 (24) 24 (29) 20 (23) undergraduate dental students.…”

Contemporary dental practice in the UK: demographic details and practising arrangements in 2008

“…This was considered relevant subsequent to a previous study [3][4][5] and an ever-increasing rate of change in circumstances considered to impact on the clinical practice of dentistry. Information of the type revealed by the present investigation is considered important to understanding, among other factors, trends in oral health provision, attitudes in the profession and future requirements in terms of education and recruitment to studies leading to membership of the dental team.…”

“…A questionnaire, based upon the previous questionnaire that was successfully used for the earlier survey, 3 was piloted among ten practitioners in NW England. To facilitate comparison with the results from the earlier study, no questions were changed other than those pertaining to hardware and IT capability, which required updating.…”

“…Against this background, it was considered timely to investigate the practising arrangements of UK dentists in 2000. [3][4][5] Given the ever-increasing rate of change impacting on the clinical practise of dentistry, it was considered appropriate to repeat the investigation six years later.…”

Contemporary dental practice in the UK in 2008: indirect restorations and fixed prosthodontics

“…This questionnaire was circulated previously in 2004 and the results were reported subsequently. [1][2][3] The questionnaire, which comprised of 89 questions, had been piloted by a group of practitioners in the North West and for reasons of comparison no questions were Objectives To investigate, by postal questionnaire, various aspects of primary dental care provision in the United Kingdom. Additionally, to compare the results of this survey with a similar survey completed four years previously.…”