Attitudes of dental students regarding the provision of treatment tend to be dentist-centered; however, facilitating mixed student group formation could change such perceptions. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived scope of practice of dental and dental hygiene students and whether their perceptions of task distribution between dentists and dental hygienists would change following an educational intervention consisting of feedback, intergroup comparison, and competition between mixed-group teams. The study employed a pretest-posttest single group design. Third-year dental students and second-year dental hygiene students at a university in The Netherlands were randomly assigned to intraprofessional teams (four or five members) and received team-based performance feedback and comparison. The intervention was finalized with an award ceremony for the best intraprofessional team. Before and after the intervention, students completed a questionnaire measuring their perceived distribution of ten tasks between dentists and dental hygienists. A total of 38 dental students and 32 dental hygiene students participated in the intervention-all 70 of those eligible. Questionnaires were completed by a total 88.4% (n=61) of the participants: 34 dental (89.5%) and 27 dental hygiene students (84.4%). Dental and dental hygiene students had similar perceptions regarding teeth cleaning (prophylaxis) (p=0.372, p=0.404) and, after the intervention, preventive tasks (p=0.078). Following the intervention, dental students considered four out of ten tasks as less dentist-centered: radiograph for periodontal diagnosis (p=0.003), local anesthesia (p=0.037), teeth cleaning (p=0.037), and periodontal treatment (p=0.045). Dental hygiene students perceived one task as being less dentist-centered after the intervention: radiograph for cariologic diagnosis (p=0.041). This study found that these dental and dental hygiene students had different opinions regarding the scope of practice for dentistry and dental hygiene. The number of redistributed tasks after the intervention was especially substantial among the dental students, although the amount of change per task was minimal. Half of all tasks were perceived as less dentist-centered as a result of the intervention.
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The questionnaire was completed by 36 third year nursing students. Results indicate that main reasons for insufficient dental hygiene performed by nurses include insufficient knowledge of protocols, lack of skills and time, opposition of the patient and low priority. In addition, respondents indicated that an eHealth application with explanation, pictures, videos, examples and a reminder function and a possibility for report could help nurses to optimize dental hygiene care in their elderly patients.
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Abstract Background: Good dental hygiene is important to prevent or reduce frailty in the elderly. Research shows that 66% of elderly patients admitted to a nursing home have bad dental hygiene. During their stay, dental hygiene remains moderate to bad. To start addressing this issue, a group of students (nursing, occupational therapy, computer science and health care technology), part of an exchange collaboration facilitated through our Vitale Delta Research Program, have been researching 1) why caregivers struggle to give good dental hygiene, 2) which eHealth applications could support the (professional) caretakers and the elderly in performing appropriate dental hygiene, and 3) to develop an app to support dental hygiene.
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