The University of Sydney School of Dentistry, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
The University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2021 Apr;49(2):201-208. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12592. Epub 2020 Nov 1.
The phenomenon of overtreatment in dentistry is under-explored and has not been the subject of much research inquiry. Most dental care in Australia is provided by practitioners in private dental practice. This research expands understanding of how the nexus between professionalism and commercialism in dentistry is impacted by the phenomenon of overtreatment.
Data were collected through recorded interviews and written reflections from private dentists working in the Australian context. The data were then examined using thematic analysis to understand common themes and reveal deeper insights.
A total of 20 participants were recruited for this study. Participants spoke of their experiences in practice where financial targets and pressure from practice owners to provide high-cost treatments presented challenges to their professionalism. The participants expressed that the way in which dentistry is remunerated based on activity was a motivation towards engaging in overtreatment. The participants also spoke of finding a balance between commercialism and professionalism within private dental practice.
Participants' reports provided insights into how the mismanagement of the commercial elements of private dental practice led to a transactional ('buyer beware') relationship between the consumers and providers of dental services, rather than a relationship founded upon professional altruism and trust. Consumer empowerment through the commercialization of dentistry has potential to be a positive influence on the patient experience in accessing dental care. However, this research has shown that the shift of power through consumerism also risks attenuating professional appreciation of the imbalanced nature of the patient-clinician relationship in dentistry.
牙科领域的过度治疗现象尚未得到充分研究，也不是很多研究调查的主题。澳大利亚的大多数牙科护理都是由私人牙科诊所的从业者提供的。这项研究扩展了对牙科专业精神与商业化之间的联系如何受到过度治疗现象影响的理解。
数据是通过在澳大利亚背景下工作的私人牙医的记录访谈和书面反思收集的。然后使用主题分析来检查这些数据，以了解常见主题并揭示更深入的见解。
共有 20 名参与者参加了这项研究。参与者谈到了他们在实践中的经验，即财务目标和来自诊所所有者提供高成本治疗的压力对他们的专业精神构成了挑战。参与者表示，基于活动的牙科报酬方式是导致过度治疗的动机。参与者还谈到了在私人牙科实践中找到商业主义和专业精神之间的平衡。
参与者的报告深入了解了私人牙科实践中商业元素的管理不善如何导致消费者和牙科服务提供者之间的交易性（“买家自慎”）关系，而不是基于专业利他主义和信任的关系。通过商业化牙科为消费者赋权有可能对患者在获得牙科护理方面的体验产生积极影响。然而，这项研究表明，通过消费主义转移权力也有可能削弱专业人士对牙科医患关系不平衡性质的认识。
