The blurred lines of professionalism in dentistry.

Introduction Literature surrounding the definition, portrayal and teaching of professionalism in dentistry is widespread. However, there has been substantially less focus on the boundaries of professionalism and what constitutes unprofessional or a lapse in professionalism.Aims What about a dentist's conduct calls their professionalism into question? In exploring this, we shed light on where the boundary between professional and unprofessional conduct is blurred.

Are the standards of professionalism expected in dentistry justified? Views of dental professionals and the public.

Introduction In the UK, the General Dental Council specifies nine principles of professional standards that dental registrants must follow. There are views that such standards are high, patients' expectations are rising, and the professionalism of dental professionals is increasingly scrutinised. This paper explores whether the high standards expected in dentistry are justified.

Professionalism in the dental practice: perspectives from members of the public, dentists and dental care professionals.

Introduction This paper examines views on professionalism in the dental practice workplace through a thematic analysis of data from eight focus groups.Methods Focus groups were conducted with 19 dentists, 13 dental care professionals and 19 members of the public in England and Wales. The research was part of a larger mixed-methods study of professionalism in dentistry commissioned by the General Dental Council.

The dental core training experience: the views of trainees and their postgraduate training leads.

Introduction Dental core training (DCT) is an optional, postgraduate programme with a duration of one to three years that dentists in the UK can pursue to further strengthen their skillset.Aims To understand career motivations and preferences of trainees pursuing DCT, and their perceptions and experiences of the programme.Methods Data were gathered from 176 DCT trainees across England through focus groups or individual paper-based responses to questions, as well as telephone interviews with ten associate postgraduate dental deans/training programme directors.

A whole-team approach to optimising general dental practice teamwork: development of the Skills Optimisation Self-Evaluation Toolkit (SOSET).

Introduction Studies across the health service reveal benefits of teamwork and barriers to its optimal use. Drawing upon the established Maturity Matrix Dentistry method, the Skills Optimisation Self-Evaluation Toolkit (SOSET) was developed to enable the whole dental team to critically review how they address skill-mix in delivery of patient-centred oral healthcare in their practice. This paper outlines the development of the SOSET and explores its usefulness to general dental practice teams.

Tackling the challenge of the impact of continuing education: An evidence synthesis charting a global, cross-professional shift away from counting hours.

Introduction: Health professionals worldwide are required to maintain their knowledge and skills through continuing education. However, there is limited evidence that the accumulation of hours of educational activity enhances practice. The aim of this study was to review evidence of the impact of continuing professional development (CPD), best educational practice and new models of CPD requirements.

A novel dual action monolithic thermosetting hydrogel loaded with lidocaine and metronidazole as a potential treatment for alveolar osteitis.

Alveolar osteitis is a complication that can occur after tooth extraction, whereby exposed bone results in severe throbbing pain for the patient and can be prone to infection. The current treatment options are widely regarded as sub-optimal. The aim of this project was to investigate in vitro the plausibility of a dual-action monolithic drug-loaded thermosensitive hydrogel that undergoes thermal gelation within the tooth socket and releases both anaesthetic and antimicrobial agents.

Dental therapists in general dental practice. A literature review and case-study analysis to determine what works, why, how and in what circumstances.

Introduction: In the United Kingdom, policy and guidance changes regarding the role of dental therapists (DTs) were implemented in recent years with a view to changing dental care to a more preventive-focussed, teamwork approach. However, success in the adoption of this model of working has been varied.

Aims: Adopting a realist approach, our aim was, to examine the use of DTs in general dental practices in Wales, exploring what works, why, how and in what circumstances.

The Graduating European Dentist: A New Undergraduate Curriculum Framework.

With "The Graduating European Dentist", ADEE provides a new approach that reflects best academic practice for European undergraduate dental education. The new suite of documents sees increased emphasis on important curriculum components such as patient safety, working as a team and patient-centred care. There is also an increased emphasis on teaching excellence, student satisfaction and student preparedness and support.

The Graduating European Dentist: Contemporaneous Methods of Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Dental Undergraduate Education.

It is often the case that good teachers just "intuitively" know how to teach. Whilst that may be true, there is now a greater need to understand the various processes that underpin both the ways in which a curriculum is delivered, and the way in which the students engage with learning; curricula need to be designed to meet the changing needs of our new graduates, providing new, and robust learning opportunities, and be communicated effectively to both staff and students. The aim of this document is to draw together robust and contemporaneous methods of teaching, learning and assessment that help to overcome some of the more traditional barriers within dental undergraduate programmes.

The undergraduate preparation of dentists: Confidence levels of final year dental students at the School of Dentistry in Cardiff.

Objective To investigate the self-reported confidence and preparedness of final year undergraduate students in undertaking a range of clinical procedures.Methods A questionnaire was distributed to final year dental students at Cardiff University, six months prior to graduation. Respondents rated their confidence in undertaking 39 clinical procedures using a 5-point scale (1 = can undertake on own with confidence, 5 = unable to undertake).

Antimicrobial prescribing by dentists in Wales, UK: findings of the first cycle of a clinical audit.

Objective To describe the findings of the first cycle of a clinical audit of antimicrobial use by general dental practitioners (GDPs).Setting General dental practices in Wales, UK.Subjects and methods Between April 2012 and March 2015, 279 GDPs completed the audit.

Barriers to doctors successfully delivering leadership in the NHS.

Leadership will be essential to deliver the changes outlined in the and to ensure that the efficiencies identified in the Carter Review are delivered. To achieve the scale of savings outlined in these papers, while maintaining the quality and safety of care, all NHS staff will need to be involved in and to take the lead in identifying wasteful practice and procurement and, more importantly, to become the agents of change and architects of innovative and high-quality practice. However, many barriers exist to successful leadership by doctors in the NHS.

Perspectives on clinical leadership: a qualitative study exploring the views of senior healthcare leaders in the UK.

Introduction: Clinicians are being asked to play a major role leading the NHS. While much is written on about clinical leadership, little research in the medical literature has examined perceptions of the term or mapped the perceived attributes required for success.

Objective: To capture the views of senior UK healthcare leaders regarding their perception of the term `clinical leadership' and the cultural backdrop in which it is being espoused.

Training and education in healthcare leadership: Is it time for a NHS healthcare academy?

In his report into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Robert Francis QC suggested the need for a physical NHS 'staff college' to support the strengthening of clinical leadership in the NHS. We present qualitative research data from a series of semistructured interviews with senior healthcare leaders in the UK that highlights their thoughts on the state of both clinician's managerial and leadership knowledge and training in the UK and the opportunities and challenges that a 'staff college' model would present using the UK Armed Forces Defence Academy as an existing public sector model. While progress has been made towards strengthening leadership and management training for NHS staff since this research was performed, this research suggests the need for a more inclusive, corporate, multi-disciplinary approach to delivery, pooling the existing expertise and ensuring a whole workforce approach to the corporate NHS agenda.

Continuing professional development in implant dentistry in Europe.

Introduction: Training for dental practitioners in implant dentistry ranges from 1- or 2-day short Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses to certificate/diploma programmes run by universities. In general, the teaching of implant dentistry in Europe lacks structure and standardisation. This paper aims to: (i) identify the current trends in CPD in implant dentistry in Europe; (ii) identify potential and limitations with regards to the design and implementation of CPD activities in implant dentistry; (iii) provide recommendations on the future structure and development of CPD activities in implant dentistry.

Communication and professionalism skills of a new graduate: the expectations and experiences of dental foundation trainers.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate dental foundation year 1 (DF1) trainers' expectations of the dental graduate specifically in relation to non-clinical (professionalism and communication) skills and to explore whether these expectations were being met.

Method: In the UK, dental graduates undertake 1 year of foundation training prior to being permitted to undertake NHS practice. An online survey was distributed to DF1 trainers via all 11 English deaneries and the Northern Ireland deanery.

Recommendations for the development of e-modules for the continuing professional development of European dentists.

Aims: To provide evidence-based and peer-reviewed recommendations for the development of dental continuing professional development (CPD) learning e-modules.

Methods: The present recommendations are consensus recommendations of the DentCPD project team and were informed by a literature research, consultations from e-learning and IT expert, discussions amongst the participants attending a special interest group during the 2012 ADEE meeting, and feedback from the evaluation procedures of the exemplar e-module (as described in a companion paper within this Supplement). The main focus of these recommendations is on the courses and modules organised and offered by dental schools.

The development of an exemplar e-module for the continuing professional development of European dentists.

Aim: To present the development of an exemplar e-module for dental continuing professional development (CPD) provided by dental schools and other dental educational providers.

Materials And Methods: The exemplar e-module covered the topic of 'Sterilisation and cross-infection control in the dental practice' as this is one of the most recommended topics for dental CPD in Europe. It was developed by a group of topic experts, adult learning and distance learning experts and a technical developer.

Guidelines for the organisation of continuing professional development activities for the European dentist.

Aim: Free movement of dental professionals across the European Union calls for more uniform continuing education in dentistry to ensure up-to-date, high-quality patient care and patient safety. This article provides guidelines for the management and delivery of high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) by European dental schools and other CPD providers.

Method: The guidelines are based on an extensive literature inventory, a survey of existing practices (both available as separate publications), discussions during meetings of the Association for Dental Education in Europe in 2011 and 2012 and debate amongst the members of the DentCPD project team representing six dental schools.