Department of Oral Diagnostics, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.
Kalmar County Council, Public Dental Service, Oskarshamn, Sweden.
BMC Oral Health. 2023 Jan 25;23(1):43. doi: 10.1186/s12903-023-02756-y.
To explore dental professionals' perceptions of their role in the practice of oral health promotion.
In-depth interviews were conducted with three dentists, one specialist dentist and seven dental hygienists. All were employed in the public dental service in Kalmar County, Sweden and had at least 2 years' work experience. The interview questions addressed the experience and views of dental professionals with reference to their role in the practice of health promotion. The interview data were subjected to qualitative content analysis.
Analysis revealed two themes which capture the essence of the dental professionals' perception of their role in the practice of oral health promotion. One theme, having person-focused approach, comprised four categories: 'considering the patient's life situation', 'establishing a trusting relationship with patients', 'strengthening patients' commitment to oral health' and 'health education'. The other theme, perceiving social responsibility for oral health, comprised three categories: 'dissemination of oral health knowledge', 'interprofessional collaboration' and 'equality in oral health care'.
Dental professionals perceived promotion of oral health to be an important aspect of their professional role. They aspired to patient participation in the decision-making process and educational activities, as well as practising and evaluating skills development. Although the dental professionals perceived that they undertook health promotion activities, they did not clearly distinguish between oral health promotion and disease prevention. There was intra- and inter-professional agreement among the dentists and dental hygienists with respect to expected outcomes for health promotion activities.
探讨牙科专业人员对其在促进口腔健康实践中角色的看法。
对 3 名牙医、1 名口腔专家和 7 名口腔保健师进行了深入访谈。他们均在瑞典卡尔马郡的公共牙科服务机构工作，且至少有 2 年的工作经验。访谈问题涉及牙科专业人员在促进健康实践中经验和观点，以及他们对自己角色的看法。对访谈数据进行了定性内容分析。
分析揭示了两个主题，这些主题抓住了牙科专业人员对其在促进口腔健康实践中角色看法的本质。一个主题是“以人为本”，包括四个类别：“考虑患者的生活状况”、“与患者建立信任关系”、“增强患者对口腔健康的承诺”和“健康教育”。另一个主题是“感知口腔健康的社会责任”，包括三个类别：“口腔健康知识的传播”、“跨专业合作”和“口腔保健的平等”。
牙科专业人员认为促进口腔健康是其专业角色的一个重要方面。他们希望患者参与决策过程和教育活动，并实践和评估技能发展。尽管牙科专业人员认为他们开展了促进健康的活动，但他们并没有明确区分口腔健康促进和疾病预防。牙医和口腔保健师之间在促进健康活动的预期结果方面存在着内-间专业协议。
