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Science has developed from a solitary pursuit into a team-based collaborative activity and, more recently, into a multidisciplinary research enterprise. The increasingly collaborative character of science, mandated by complex research questions and problems that require many competencies, requires that researchers lower the barriers to the creation of collaborative networks of experts, such as communities of practice (CoPs). The aim was to assess the information needs of prospective members of a CoP in an emerging field, dental informatics, and to evaluate their expectations of an e-community in order to design a suitable electronic infrastructure. A Web-based survey instrument was designed and administered to 2768 members of the target audience. Benefit expectations were analyzed for their relationship to (1) the respondents' willingness to participate in the CoP and (2) their involvement in funded research. Two raters coded the respondents' answers regarding expected benefits using a 14-category coding scheme (Kappa = 0.834). The 256 respondents (11.1% response rate) preferred electronic resources over traditional print material to satisfy their information needs. The most frequently expected benefits from participation in the CoP were general information (85% of respondents), peer networking (31.1%), and identification of potential collaborators and/or research opportunities (23.2%). The competitive social-information environment in which CoPs are embedded presents both threats to sustainability and opportunities for greater integration and impact. CoP planners seeking to support the development of emerging biomedical science disciplines should blend information resources, social search and filtering, and visibility mechanisms to provide a portfolio of social and information benefits. Assessing benefit expectations and alternatives provides useful information for CoP planners seeking to prioritize community infrastructure development and encourage participation.

Key Points Identifies widespread problems associated with breaches of electronic commerce laws. Lists a number of precautions to help practice principals understand their professional responsibilities and how to protect patient information. Suggests the GDC should introduce a compulsory verifiable CPD module – the use of ICT as part of the new professional standards guidelines. As the use of information and communication technology (ICT) becomes more widespread in dentistry the risk of breaching electronic commerce laws and patient confidentiality increases. It is necessary to be aware of the responsibilities internet usage entails, especially within a dental practice where the protection of patient information is of the utmost importance. More should be done to outline the various precautions that should be taken to ensure ICT security within the professional domain, as it would appear dentistry has been neglected with regard to receiving the proper ICT education, training and support systems.

Background In recent years, Ireland has seen a decline in the number of private general dental practitioner (GDP) contractors delivering state funded dental care. Meanwhile, the National Oral Health Policy – Smile agus Sláinte , proposes contracting more state funded care to private GDPs including care for all children and vulnerable adults. Understanding Irish GDP workforce characteristics will be key in evaluating services and informing workforce planning into the future. This study describes the primary oral healthcare system and GDP workforce indicators in Ireland and compares private GDPs by current state dental scheme participation. Methods Documentary analysis was used to describe and trace the origins of Ireland’s current primary oral healthcare services. Secondary analysis of publicly available data was undertaken to map GDP workforce indicators to critical dimensions of the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘Dimensions of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) relating to Human Resources for Health’ framework. Private GDPs were compared by state dental scheme participation utilising available demographics. Descriptive statistics were computed using STATA/SE 17 software. Results Private GDP contractors have participated in the delivery of state-funded dental care in Ireland since the early 1950s. The number of private GDPs holding Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) contracts fell from 1,664 in 2016 to 787 in August 2023, while the number holding Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme (DTBS) contracts increased from 1,959 in 2016 to 2,384 in 2023. The number of private GDPs submitting claims on the DTSS has also declined from 1,318 in 2016 to 831 in 2022. DTSS contractors are more likely to be male and qualified longer (> 20 years) than GDPs holding only DTBS contracts. Conclusion These findings are very relevant and timely to the planned policy implementation given that Smile agus Sláinte is reliant on the greater provision of publicly funded care by private GDPs. There is a potential lack of GDP supply into the public system as the Irish Government seeks to implement Smile agus Sláinte and meet its WHO obligations on developing UHC for oral health.

Background In today’s competitive world, especially in critical situations, dental clinic managers seek to retain customers and allocate more market share. The importance-performance analysis (IPA) technique is a powerful diagnostic tool that helps managers identify fundamental deficiencies, establish priorities and provide insights into which service improvement areas managers should focus on. This study aimed to improve the quality of life of patients at the Alborz Dental Clinic based on their perception of safe services during the coronavirus pandemic using IPA. Materials and methods In this analytical cross-sectional study, 324 patients referred to at Alborz Dental Clinic from April 2021 to February 2022 were enrolled in the study through simple random sampling. The data collection tool used was a researcher-designed questionnaire based on the indicators of the quality improvement model and the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Medical Education and Health of Iran regarding the provision of dental services in the context of COVID-19, the validity and reliability of which were measured. The gap analysis results and determination of areas of improvement were obtained using IPA. The data analysis was performed using SPSS26 and Excel software. Results The results of the paired ttest showed that the difference between importance and performance for all the research variables was significant (significance level less than 5%).The importance of the components exceeded their performance. The deepest gap among the five components of the model was related to accountability. IPA revealed that two variables, reliability and responsiveness, are placed in quadrant A, and three variables, tangibility, assurance, and empathy, are placed in quadrant B. Conclusion To improve the quality of safe services, dental clinic managers need to pay attention to the three dimensions of “tangibility”, “assurance” and “empathy” and plan and make decisions about the two dimensions of “reliability” and “responsiveness”.

Social media has begun to proliferate across medical areas and transformed how medical professionals serve and interact with their patients. It offers a new communication avenue that has the potential to engage patients and, hence, may be used to create value for both medical professionals and patients. In dentistry, even though patients and dentists frequently use social media in their personal lives, little is known about their attitudes and expectations toward using social media for professional interactions. In this paper, we focus on the role of social media in dentistry. Specifically, we explore patients' and dentists' attitudes toward social media usage and their current online behaviors in this context. Furthermore, we examine potential challenges and opportunities regarding dentists' adoption of social media practices. This research employed a large-scale online survey of 588 patients and 532 dental professionals. We assessed the attitudes, expectations, and social media behaviors from both patients' and dentists' perspectives. We found that more than 55% (290/532) of dentists in our sample have accounts for their dental practice on various social media platforms. Interestingly, while 73% (374/511) of patients did not expect their dental practice to have a social media presence, and 44% (207/468) thought that establishing a friendship with their dentists is not appropriate, the findings show that 36% (164/460) of patients had searched for their dentists, and 44% (207/470) of them were happy to establish contacts with dentists on social media. Furthermore, the findings highlight that patients were interested in exploring additional information such as online reviews and the qualifications of their dentists on Facebook pages. For dentists, more than half (375/432, 83%) of them in our sample thought that social media marketing is more efficient compared to traditional marketing. Our findings revealed some key challenges and opportunities to utilize social media in dentistry. For both patients and dentists, the role of social media in dental services remains vague, and both parties still share concerns about connecting with each other on social media platforms. However, there also exists a sizeable number of patients who are already comfortable to connect with their dentists on social media sites such as Facebook. The current findings show that there is an opportunity for dental practices to trade upon a more active social media presence for enhanced patient interaction and engagement.

Patient portals can improve care delivery and optimize health service efficiency, but they are not always adopted by patients and staff. To improve adoption of patient portals, existing research has focused on examining implementation processes from the perspectives of end users. However, to our knowledge, the views of the implementers, who have in-depth insight into interorganizational and intraorganizational factors impacting implementation, have not been previously explored. The aim of this study was to explore implementers' perspectives on the key facilitators and barriers to implementing a patient portal. This was a cross-sectional qualitative study conducted at a dental hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Participants were implementers of a patient portal who were (1) administrative staff managers working at the dental hospital or (2) IT staff members who either worked within the district where the hospital is located or with the vendor. All implementers of the portal (N=13) took part in the interviews. Data were analyzed thematically and mapped to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Eighteen factors were reported to affect the implementation of the patient portal: 7 (39%) acted as facilitators, 8 (44%) acted as barriers, and 3 (17%) factors both facilitated and hindered implementation. Many of the facilitators were related to the implementation process, such as planning and project management, leadership support, stakeholder motivation, and co-design. Most of the barriers occurred at the interorganizational level, such as delayed training for new staff, unique workflow and clinic characteristics, challenges with timeline and budget, and lack of direct vendor access to end users. While participants saw potential benefits of the portal for patients and the health service, they had concerns about increased staff workload related to the portal implementation. From the intraorganizational perspective, the lack of direct vendor access to end users was identified as a key barrier to implementation. From both interorganizational and intraorganizational perspectives, challenges with integrating the portal into the electronic medical record were identified as a persistent barrier to portal implementation. In addition to factors directly impacting clinicians and patients, our study highlighted that numerous organizational factors at multiple levels within and across organizations impacted successful patient portal implementation and adoption. Portal implementations would benefit from interoperability with existing systems, adequate resourcing, regular policy review related to technological change, and strategies to improve interagency communication among portal implementers. Our study offers learnings to health service organizations, implementers, and policymakers who aim to implement new portals or optimize existing patient portals.

Background An increasing number of older adults receive home healthcare in their homes, some of whom lose their capacity and ability to take care of their own health, including oral health. Poor oral health may have serious consequences that can lead to poor nutrition, diseases, isolation, and even death. There is an urgent need to involve users in developing targeted interventions to ensure that eligible older adults exercise their right to receive appropriate dental care. The purpose of the study was to explore what user groups emphasised in co-creating a targeted dental care intervention for older adults receiving home healthcare. Methods In this study, an exploratory design with an inductive and interpretive approach was employed. In two six-hour workshops, eleven participants representing three older adults, one next of kin, two nurses, and five dental care providers exchanged and discussed their perspectives on dental care as part of a co-creation process. Data were collected from group and plenary discussions during the workshops and were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results The different user groups conveyed confusing and contradictory understandings and interpretations of the dental healthcare landscape. This uncertainty resulted in missed information regarding dental care, leading to situations where they do not always seek dental healthcare services until an acute issue arises. A blurred perception of older adults’ needs for support, combined with shortcomings in collaboration, communication, and the exchange of digital information systems, has led to a lack of knowledge about one another and inadequate dental healthcare for this vulnerable group. The various user groups suggested different solutions; however, several key issues emerged as urgent to address. There is a need to build and integrate systems into home healthcare’s digital administrative and health record systems to support the clarification and identification of eligible patients, as well as to develop a digital coordination and communication system to connect the two levels of service. Conclusions Unpacking the perspectives of the different user groups uncovered that an intervention must take into account the views of all groups. Understanding and incorporating the perceptions of all the different user groups were crucial for developing an intervention that enables a preventive and collaborative dental care approach.

Background NHS dentistry is experiencing significant recruitment and retention challenges, particularly in rural, coastal, and deprived urban areas. Issues have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to unequal distribution of dental professionals across UK geographies. Despite workforce policy initiatives, issues persist. This study explores factors influencing workforce sustainability in the North East of England – an under-served region of the UK. Methods Forty-six participants, including 30 dentists, 3 dental care professionals, and 13 managers, contributed to this study. Four focus groups were held at two events in July 2023 – one in the north of the region, and one in the south to enable broad stakeholder engagement and reflect the different geographies within the region. These groups generated qualitative data to elaborate on the factors influencing workforce sustainability and ideas for change. Analysis involved a codebook approach to thematic analysis. Results Thematic analysis identified four key factors influencing workforce sustainability: careers, collaboration, costs, and contentment. Career development in a supportive learning environment was essential for professional growth and retention, yet systemic barriers hindered progression. Collaboration, both within dental teams and across regulatory bodies, played a vital role in improving job satisfaction and service delivery, but fragmented communication remained a challenge. Financial pressures, particularly rigid NHS contracts and inadequate remuneration, emerged as significant concerns impacting recruitment and retention. Contentment was shaped by work-life balance, professional recognition, and the ability to provide high-quality care without excessive bureaucracy. These systemic challenges collectively contribute to workforce instability, particularly in the North East. Conclusion Findings highlight critical systemic barriers that threaten workforce sustainability in NHS dentistry. Addressing career progression pathways, improving collaboration, reforming contracts, and enhancing professional support systems are essential for sector stability. Without coordinated action from employers and policymakers, NHS dentistry will remain unsustainable, necessitating urgent interventions to support workforce retention and service provision.

Background Women experience physiological and psychological changes that can affect oral health during pregnancy. This study evaluated the current practices, barriers, and facilitators of oral health care within antenatal care services and assess the feasibility and benefits of integrating oral healthcare into antenatal care frameworks, particularly in Southwest Nigeria. Methods This descriptive phenomenology study that recruited participants from Osun and Ekiti States healthcare facilities in Southwest Nigeria. Data were collected from healthcare workers between July and August 2023 via in-depth interviews. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using Atlas.ti version 8. The coding frame was structured according to the research questions, with new codes added iteratively to capture emergent themes. Insights were drawn out into a Microsoft word narrative document, linking findings back to transcripts to keep track of the weight of evidence behind specific points. The teams adhered to and employed procedures that ensured rigor. Results Sixteen healthcare workers were interviewed. Three themes emerged from the interview. The first theme - current oral health practices at antenatal care services - shed light on the existing scope of antenatal care and, the limitations of oral health assessments and care within the antenatal care units. The second theme, which focused on the uptake of preventive oral care by pregnant women, identified a variety of facilitators and barriers to oral health care access by pregnant women. Facilitators include experiences of tooth pain or bleeding, while barriers were the lack of awareness, misconceptions, and financial constraints. The third theme explored the integration of oral healthcare into antenatal care, revealing perceived benefits and measures to improve access such as early detection, prompt referral, and preventive practices. Conclusion Healthcare providers in Southwestern Nigeria perceived that access to and uptake of preventive oral health care by pregnant women is poor possibly due to the absence of protocols for integrating oral health into antenatal care services. In addition, there are individual and structural level factors that limits the access to and uptake of oral health care by pregnant women. Many of these barriers can be addressed through oral health promotion.