Quality assurance in healthcare is fundamental in ensuring the achievement of desired outcomes for patients. In 2011 a quality assurance plan was created at the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) dental hygiene program in order to meet accreditation standards. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this plan in order to determine its effectiveness in improving the quality of patient care indicators. One hundred fifty patient charts were selected and audited. Deficiencies were counted in the categories of assessment, treatment, documentation, referral, caries management, perio management, patient education, and follow-up. Research findings were varied; however, external variables with the potential to affect the study’s results were identified. Furthermore, statistical process control procedures indicated that the quality assurance program was effective or had the potential to be effective. Although further research is warranted, this study could be used to improve quality assurance practices at the ETSU dental hygiene program.

Implementation of electronic health records by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health has led to the implementation of electronic dental records (EDRs) and digital radiography in dental offices. The purpose of this study was to determine the state of the implementation and usage of EDRs and digital radiographs by the private general and pediatric dental practices in Mississippi as well as reasons why the dental practices are not moving forward with the advanced technology. A survey was emailed to 712 dental practices: 116 responded (16% response rate), and 104 consented to participate (89.66%). Results indicated dental practices in Mississippi using EDRs was 46.07%, EDRs with paper records was 42.70%, and only paper records was 11.24%. Results indicated dental practices using digital radiography was 76.40%, conventional radiography was 13.48%, and both was 10.11%. Common reasons for not advancing were cost, insufficient training, computer/software issues, and “too old.”

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

Although tobacco cessation is an uphill battle for almost everyone who attempts to quit, it is important that dental hygienists do not assume that patients are not interested. Dental hygienists are in an ideal position to offer cessation help to their tobacco using patients. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the tobacco cessation practices among central Texas dental hygienists. Specifically, dental hygienists were asked about beliefs, motivation, and confidence with regard to their tobacco cessation practice. A positive significant, moderate, relationship was found between beliefs and confidence (r=0.647), beliefs and practices (r=0.704), knowledge and capability (r=0.579), motivation and capability (r=0.529), motivation and practice (r=0.605), and years of practice and capability (r=0.699). The mean confidence scores for hygienists with more than 20 years of experience differed from those with 1-5 years of experience (p=.003) and 6-10 years of experience (p=.025).

INTRODUCTION Les partenariats université communauté (PUC) sont bien étudiés en médecine, mais peu d’études existent en médecine dentaire. C’est ainsi que notre étude explore l’expérience des partenaires d’un PUC entre une faculté de médecine dentaire et une école primaire. MÉTHODES Une étude qualitative descriptive a été effectuée avec entrevues semi-structurées et une analyse thématique. Tous les partenaires clés du partenariat ont été interviewés ainsi que deux étudiants de médecine dentaire et quatre parents d’élèves pour un total de 12 participants. RESULTATS Bien que les partenaires aient vécu des expériences positives, ils ont éprouvé plusieurs difficultés. D’un côté, la communauté a senti que ses besoins n’étaient pas bien compris par la faculté et a vécu des difficultés organisationnelles. De l’autre côté, la faculté a eu de la difficulté à coordonner les horaires cliniques et a trouvé que l’école était mal équipée. De plus, les parents n’étaient pas bien informés des détails des traitements avant qu’ils ne soient effectués. CONCLUSION La faculté a pris le contrôle du leadership du partenariat. Elle a placé ses besoins avant ceux de la communauté. Les dentistes cliniciens ont valorisé l’enseignement d’interventions techniques plutôt que l’enseignement de la dentisterie communautaire et sociale, alors que cela aurait pu être une bonne opportunité de le faire. Nous recommandons que les universités effectuent une analyse des besoins de la communauté avant de commencer un projet en PUC et de les impliquer dans les décisions. Nous proposons aussi d’encadrer les PUC avec un projet de recherche action participatif. / INTRODUCTION Community University Partnerships have been widely studied in medicine; however, much is unknown in dentistry. This research explores the experience of the different partners of a partnership between a faculty of dentistry and an elementary school. METHODS A qualitative descriptive research was undertaken using semi structured interviews and a thematic analysis. All of the partners were interviewed along with two dentistry students and four parents, for a total of 12 participants. RESULTS Although the partners had some good experiences, the partnership experienced many challenges. The Community felt its needs were not well understood by the Faculty and experienced organizational difficulties. On the other hand, the Faculty had scheduling difficulties with the School and found the local premises ill-equipped. Moreover, the parents were not well informed of the work that was being done on their children. CONCLUSION The Faculty took over the leadership of the partnership. As such, it placed its needs ahead of the Community’s needs which it did not make enough attempts to understand. Also, being clinicians, the Faculty members valued teaching the technical details of interventions, and an opportunity was missed in teaching the students about community and social dentistry. For future partnerships we recommend either assessing the communities’ needs before starting a project and involving the community in its funding and steering process, or adding to the partnership a participatory research-action project.

A self-perpetuating cycle of poor health literacy and poor oral health knowledge and behavior affects approximately 90 million people in the United States, most especially those from low-income groups and other at-risk populations such as those with addiction. Poor oral health can result from lack of access to regular preventive dental appointments, lack of access to restorative care when dental diseases are treatable, and low oral health knowledge that leads to poor oral health self-care behaviors. In addition, patients' dental anxiety can impede care, because highly anxious people often avoid dental appointments. To address these issues, this inquiry examined oral health knowledge, attitudes toward oral health, and levels of dental anxiety among women in two residential chemical dependency treatment programs. Participants engaged in oral health intervention sessions to determine possible efficacy of the educational intervention. Results indicate positive outcomes in increases in oral health knowledge and behavior. The frequency of high-to-severe dental anxiety is much higher in this sample than in the general population. Implications are discussed, including use of economically efficient small-group oral health education training.

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) comprise a significant portion of the U.S. primary care workforce and play an essential role in patients' health awareness, prevention strategies, disease management, and in providing appropriate provider referrals. Nurse Practitioners receive education on the oral-systemic connection, yet there have been limited studies on the clinical practice of NPs assessing the oral cavity to evaluate the condition of the teeth and the oral tissues. The purpose of this study was to explore the nurse practitioners’ knowledge and practice habits of assessing the oral cavity for diseases or abnormalities in the mouth that can, in turn, affect overall health. A total of 66 NPs were included in the study, primarily female (91%) with master’s degrees (77%). While knowledge and education were not significantly associated, this research found significant associations between confidence and assessments, less than one-third (30.3%) were confident in their knowledge and ability to evaluate oral abnormalities.