Dental Public Health, Leeds Dental Institute/Consultant in Dental Public Health, NHS Bradford and Airedale, Douglas Mill, Bowling Old Lane, Bradford, BD5 7JR, UK.
Br Dent J. 2009 Nov 14;207(9):417-23. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.962.
To conduct a survey of current working practices of UK dental therapists following the changes in permitted duties, allowed clinical settings and the introduction of the new dental contract in England and Wales.
A piloted postal questionnaire was circulated in 2006 to all General Dental Council (GDC) registered therapists and those on the hygienists register possessing a dental therapy qualification. Two subsequent mailings were used to boost the response rate.
There was an 80.6% response rate (n = 587). Ninety-eight percent of respondents were female. Average time since qualification was 17 years. Eighty percent (n = 470) of respondents were currently working as a dental therapist, 53% part-time. Of the 470, half were engaged entirely in general dental practice (GDP), one third in the salaried dental services (SDS), while others worked across different settings. Only 39% claimed to spend most of their time treating children. Recently qualified therapists more often worked in GDP (p <0.001). Overall, a wide range of clinical duties were performed, although there was concern about maintaining skills across all the competencies since qualification, while emphasis on hygiene work was a limiting factor for some. On the basis of the continued professional development (CPD) activities described over one year, only half would have met the GDC CPD requirements from August 2008 for dental care professionals (DCPs).
More than half of therapists now work in GDP, compared with none six years previously. Many undertake a full range of duties. However, there was concern that some dentists use them for hygiene skills rather than across the whole range of their competencies, risking deskilling, while others reported their inability to gain employment as a therapist.
调查英国牙科治疗师在允许的职责、允许的临床环境发生变化以及英格兰和威尔士新的牙科合同引入后的工作实践情况。
2006 年，向所有英国牙科理事会（GDC）注册治疗师和在注册卫生师中拥有牙科治疗资格的人员发送了一份经过试点的邮寄问卷。随后进行了两次邮件发送以提高回复率。
回复率为 80.6%（n=587）。98%的受访者为女性。平均获得资格后的时间为 17 年。80%（n=470）的受访者目前以牙科治疗师的身份工作，其中 53%为兼职。在 470 名受访者中，有一半人完全从事一般牙科治疗（GDP），三分之一人在薪酬牙科服务（SDS）工作，其他人则在不同的环境中工作。只有 39%的人声称大部分时间都在治疗儿童。刚毕业的治疗师更经常在 GDP 工作（p<0.001）。总体而言，他们执行了广泛的临床职责，尽管自获得资格以来，他们对保持所有能力的技能表示关注，而对一些人来说，强调卫生工作是一个限制因素。根据过去一年描述的持续专业发展（CPD）活动，只有一半人将满足 GDC 从 2008 年 8 月起对牙科保健专业人员（DCPs）的 CPD 要求。
与六年前相比，现在有超过一半的治疗师在 GDP 工作。许多人承担了一系列的职责。然而，有人担心一些牙医将他们用于卫生技能而不是他们所有能力的范围，这有使他们技能生疏的风险，而其他人则报告说他们无法作为治疗师获得就业机会。
