Interactions in the dental team: understanding theoretical complexities and practical challenges

Abstract

The implications for dental education are that for effective professional collaboration during training to take place a merger of interests among educators and policy developers in dental education must occur, and the challenges encountered within practice cultures must somehow be overcome. Therefore, more investment in evaluating research into interprofessional learning in dentistry would contribute to our knowledge about the place and role of interprofessional education in the professional dental curriculum and beyond.

Attitudes of the first cohort of student groups trained together at the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy towards dental interprofessional education

“…This might represent a threat to the professional identity of health professionals, and therefore, they may refuse to collaborate and understand shared care (43,44). Differences in the perception of identity and a lack of a deep understanding and respect for the roles of other dental professionals seem to affect shared patient care (7,28,45,46) and working relationships (13,45,47,48), thereby collaborative teamwork (37). This then suggests the need for training the dental workforce in a shared and interactive learning environment (49,50).…”

Attitudes Towards Shared Learning of Trainee Dental Technicians and Undergraduate Dental Students

“…Most students recognized the beneits of shared learning and that the acquisition of teamworking skills is useful for their future working lives, beneicial to the care of their patients, and likely to enhance professional working relationships. 7,8,13 Reasons for this were that both groups of students had the op-…”

“…6 However, previous research has mostly involved nursing, medical, and associated professionals and students, with few studies of dental students and particularly in which their learning occurs with allied dental professionals. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Although these studies report a positive outcome to shared learning with dental students and allied dental professionals, many of these also identify a fundamental lack of knowledge with regard to team roles, responsibilities, and experience. In one study, the role of the dental technician was perceived as "outside" the dental team due to lack of patient interaction.…”

The use of the arts to encourage reflection in the dental professions—A commentary

“…Bearing in mind these difficulties, it remains important that educators endeavour to provide meaningful reflective opportunities for dental technology students. Being accepted as part of the team is important for students in the clinical area who often feel left out of patient care provision and have concerns that their input is being ignored . They are often left feeling insecure, and this can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety.…”

“…Being accepted as part of the team is important for students in the clinical area who often feel left out of patient care provision and have concerns that their input is being ignored. 9 They are often left feeling insecure, and this can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. Reflective activity can support students to explore their feelings associated with incidents from practice, and this is particularly important when learning the professional role.…”