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Dentists graduate dental school ready to practice dentistry, but 85% do not feel prepared by the dental school to open and manage the operations of a general dental practice. General systems theory grounded this multisite case study. The research provides information on 3 solo practitioner dental practices that sustained beyond 5 years in the Washington, DC suburbs. At each operating practice, the dentist who owned the practice and 1 employee that also worked at the practice during the first 5 years were interviewed. The dentist provided marketing documents used during the first 5 years of the practice operations. Data triangulation was used to ensure the trustworthiness of the analysis of the data from the interviews and documents collected. The data collected was analyzed using coding, establishing nodes, and creating mind maps to identify 5 themes. The themes included working hard to provide dental care and relieve pain, marketing to ensure potential patients had the practice contact information when they needed it, learning continuously to improve the practice operations, putting patient's health before practice profits, and minimizing debt. The implications for positive social change for residents of the Washington, DC suburbs include the potential to receive the needed dental care and pain relief they need because dentists who learn from this research will stay late and return to their practice to treat patients who found the dentist's contact information from their marketing. The implications for positive social change for owners of dental practices include building a sustainable dental practice by implementing these research findings that include working hard, marketing, continuous learning, putting patients health first, and minimizing debt.

The dissertation evolved out a need to determine the strategic way forward for the Umhlanga Dental Practice (UDP). The practice has been experiencing major and minor changes in its internal and external environments. The general strategic approach has been to merely adapt to these changes but with a distinct lack of formal, planned sustainable initiatives.The First chapter of the dissertation highlights the necessary theory that will be applied to the specific situation surrounding the practice. Includes the various approaches to strategic analysis of the external and internal environments of the organisation. Thus a theoretical framework is illustrated that may be applicable to determining the various situations of any organisation. Chapter Two presents the application of the theoretical framework to illustrate the specific conditions that the practice finds itself in. Chapter Three identifies all the necessary analysis and evaluation of the strategic options available to the practice and aids in determining the strategic way forward. The present and future resources required to implement the chosen strategies are also analysed. Thus providing the basis for the next chapter. The last chapter focuses on Implementation of the various strategic options available to the practice. Implementation is encouraged in incremental stages and with a definite time line that enables the key resources within the practice to be adapted to the new strategies. Control of the organisation and monitoring of the strategies is an essential part of any strategic implementation and is discussed as the last part of Chapter Five. The dissertation thus addresses an actual problem that is relevant and applicable to an existing practice. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

Background: Occlusal appliances for treatment of different temporomandibular disorders (TMD) have shown to have good effect. Patients treated with an occlusal appliance should return for follow-ups and they have a right for free follow-ups within 3 months. Despite this, there are patients that are not receiving their follow-ups. Aim: To evaluate follow-up routines after treatment with an occlusal appliance in public dental practice in Västerbotten, Sweden. To evaluate the most common indications for treatment with an occlusal appliance. To evaluate if the dentists register the outcome of the treatment with their occlusal appliance or not.  Methods: Onehundred randomly selected dental records were analysed from patients treated with an occlusal appliance during 2019 in public dental practice in Västerbotten county. The analysis was conducted using a Microsoft Excel document that had prior to analysis been created. The results were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics and Microsoft Excel. Results: Forty-eight of the 97 accessible patients had a scheduled follow-up. Out of these, 38 received their follow-ups. Seventy-three patients had bruxism as an indication for treatment, 40 had myalgia, 33 had tooth wear and 33 had replacement of an old appliance. Sixty-four out of 97 patients had no information about evaluation of treatment, 17 had improved symptoms.  Conclusions: The study showed an approximately 50% rate of scheduled follow-ups of occlusal appliances and the most common indication for that treatment was bruxism. The dentists did not evaluate the treatment outcome of patients’ symptoms. It is recommended to adhere to the decision-making model.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:43:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArthurCRF_DISSERT.pdf: 1992209 bytes, checksum: 6f8fd50e3b94c7cbf749e92d1049a08b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-22 / The calculation of tooth mass discrepancy, essential for good planning and a proper orthodontic finishing, when performed manually, besides being laborious, requires considerable time consumption. The aim of this study was to develop and test Bolton Freeware, a software for analysis of the tooth mass discrepancy of Bolton, aiming to minimize the consumption of time in a less onerous way. The digital analysis of the software was done by means of two-dimensional scanning of plaster study models and compared to manual evaluation (gold standard), using 75 pairs of stone plaster study models divided into two groups according to the magnitude of the Curve of Spee (group I from 0 to 2 mm, group II greater than 2 to 3mm). All the models had permanent dentition and were in perfect condition. The manual evaluation was performed with a digital caliper and a calculator, and the time required to perform the analysis for both methods was recorded and compared. In addition, the software was evaluated by orthodontists regarding its use, by means of questionnaires developed specifically for this purpose. Calibration was performed prior to manual analysis, and excellent levels of inter-rater agreement were achieved, with ICC > 0.75 and r > 0.9 for total and anterior proportion. It was observed in the evaluation of error of the digital method that some teeth showed a significant systematic error, being the highest measured at 0.08 mm. The analysis of total tooth mass discrepancy performed by Bolton Freeware, for those cases in which the curve of Spee is mild and moderate, differ from manual analysis, on average, 0.09 mm and 0.07 mm respectively, for each tooth evaluated, with r> 0, 8 for total and anterior proportion. According to the specificity and sensitivity test, Bolton Freeware has an improved ability to detect true negatives, i.e. the presence of discrepancy. The Bolton analysis digitally performed was faster, with an average difference of time consumed to perform the analysis of Bolton between the two methods of approximately 6 minutes. Most experts interviewed (93%) approved the usability of the software / O c?lculo da discrep?ncia de massa dent?ria, efetivo recurso para um bom planejamento e uma adequada finaliza??o ortod?ntica, quando realizado manualmente, al?m de trabalhoso, exige um consider?vel consumo de tempo. O objetivo desse estudo foi o desenvolvimento e teste do Bolton Freeware, um programa de computador para an?lise de discrep?ncia de massa dent?ria de Bolton, visando minimizar o consumo de tempo de forma menos onerosa. A an?lise digital no software foi feita por meio da digitaliza??o bidimensional de modelos de estudos de gesso e comparada com a avalia??o manual (padr?o-ouro), utilizando 75 pares de modelos de estudo em gesso pedra, divididos em dois grupos conforme a magnitude da curva de Spee (0 a 2mm e de 2 a 3mm). Todos os modelos possuiam dentadura permanente e se encontravam em perfeito estado de conserva??o. A avalia??o manual foi realizada com paqu?metro digital e calculadora e o tempo requerido para realiza??o da an?lise nos dois m?todos foi cronometrado e comparado. Al?m disso o programa foi avaliado por 30 ortodontistas quanto ao seu uso, por meio de question?rios desenvolvidos especialmente para essa finalidade. Foi realizada calibra??o pr?via para an?lise manual e se obtiveram ?timos n?veis de concord?ncia interexaminador, com CCI>0,75 e r>0,9 para a discrep?ncia total e anterior. Observou-se, na avalia??o do erro do m?todo digital, que alguns dentes apresentaram um erro sistem?tico significante, sendo o maior quantificado em 0,08mm. A an?lise da discrep?ncia de massa dent?ria total realizada pelo Bolton Freeware, para aquele casos de curva de Spee leve e moderada, diferiu da an?lise manual, em m?dia, de 0,09mm e 0,07mm respectivamente, para cada dente avaliado, com r>0,8 para propor??o total e anterior. De acordo com os testes de especificidade e sensibilidade, o Bolton Freeware possui uma melhor capacidade de detectar os verdadeiros negativos, ou seja, a presen?a da discrep?ncia. A an?lise de Bolton realizada digitalmente foi mais r?pida, com a m?dia das diferen?as dos tempos consumidos para realiza??o da an?lise de Bolton entre os dois m?todos de aproximadamente 6 minutos. A maioria dos especialistas entrevistados (93%) aprovou a usabilidade do programa

Introduction: La répartition de la main-d'oeuvre dentaire à travers le Canada est fortement balancée en faveur des zones urbaines, une situation qui favorise les disparités dans l'accès aux soins de santé buccodentaire. En engageant des professionnels de la santé buccodentaire dans la pratique dentaire en milieu rural, il faut d’abord comprendre leurs opinions personnelles et professionnelles, ainsi que les obstacles et les facteurs motivant leur choix de pratique. Cependant, il existe un manque des connaissances sur la perception des étudiants de soins de santé buccodentaire à l'égard de la pratique rurale. Par conséquent, nous avons voulu vérifier comment les étudiantes en médecine dentaire perçoivent la pratique dentaire en milieu rural. Méthodes: Nous avons effectué une recherche qualitative dans deux grandes facultés de médecine dentaire au Québec. Un échantillonnage intentionnel et la technique boule de neige ont été utilisé pour recruter des étudiants finissants et des résidents en médecine dentaire en tant que participants à l'étude. Des enregistrements sonores des entrevues, d’une durée de 60 à 90 minutes, semi-structurées et face à face ont été colligés jusqu’à atteinte de la saturation. Nous avons procédé à une analyse thématique pour dégager les enjeux. Cela a inclus un compte-rendu des entrevues, l’encodage des transcriptions, la présentation des données et leur interprétation. Résultats: Dix-sept entretiens (10 F et 7 M, âge: 22 à 39) ont été réalisées. Cinq grands thèmes ont émergé des entrevues: niveau des connaissances sur les inégalités de la santé buccodentaire en milieu rural, image de la ruralité, image de la pratique dentaire en milieu rural, obstacles perçus et facteurs mobilisateurs. Les étudiants ont exprimé que l'éducation dentaire, les avantages financiers, le professionnalisme, le soutien professionnel, et les médias sociaux peuvent influencer positivement leur intérêt à l’égard de la pratique dentaire en milieu rural. Conclusion : Les résultats de cette étude soutiennent la mise en place de stratégies connues pour augmenter la connaissance et la motivation des étudiants en médecine dentaire pour choisir leur profession dans une région rurale. Les acteurs des politiques éducatives ont un rôle essentiel dans la promotion de ces politiques et stratégies facilitantes. / Introduction: The distribution of dental workforce across Canada is highly skewed toward urban areas, a situation which favours disparities in oral health care access. Engaging oral health care professionals in rural dental practice necessitates understanding the personal and professional points of view of these professionals, as well as barriers and motivators in regard to the choice of practice. However, little research exists on how dental students perceive working in rural and remote areas. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the knowledge and perspectives of future Quebec dentists in regard to rural dental practice. Methods: We conducted a qualitative interpretive descriptive research study in two major Faculties of Dental Medicine in Quebec. A purposeful sampling and snowball technique were used to recruit fourth-year dental students and dental residents as study participants. Audio-recorded, 60–90 minute, face-to-face and semi-semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the number of interviews being determined by saturation. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach including interview debriefing, transcript coding, data display, and interpretation. Results: Seventeen interviews (10 F and 7 M, age: 22–39) were carried out. Five major themes emerged from the interviews: awareness on rural oral health care access, image of rurality, image of rural dental practice, perceived barriers and enablers in regard to rural dental practice. Students expressed that undergraduate dental education, financial rewards, professionalism, professional support, and social media can positively affect their perspectives on rural dental practice.Conclusion: The results of this study support the implementation of strategies that are known to increase the knowledge and motivation of dental students toward rural dental practice. Educational policy maker have an essential role in encouraging these facilitating policies and strategies.