Open Collections

Chen, Alice

University of British Columbia

Objectives: The oral health needs of people who are frail are increasing with an aging population in Canada. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of dentists in British Columbia regarding their view of geriatric dentistry as a distinct scope of practice and in relation to special needs dentistry, a specialty for people with disabilities and medical conditions that require adaptations to access routine dental care. Methods: The research method that guided this study was interpretive description, which utilized a naturalistic inquiry amongst a purposeful sample and employed inductive analysis of semi-guided interviews to explore whether participants who were key informants in the dental profession perceived geriatric dentistry as a distinct scope of practice in dentistry within B.C. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: A total of ten interviews were conducted. The participants perceived a geriatric patient as a person aging with frailty who is dependent on others to access oral health care. Participants expressed that general dentists in private practice had a preference to refer patients aging with frailty to a specialist or special service when treatment was outside their comfort level or when there were behavioural or other patient management challenges that were difficult to manage in the private practice setting. Participants perceived the ability to provide person-centered care through interprofessional collaboration was a core competency of geriatric dentistry which overlapped with special needs dentistry. Conclusion: The study found that participants perceived geriatric dentistry in B.C. as a distinct field from general dentistry that requires specialized knowledge and broader skill sets to address the patient management challenges associated with aging with frailty. Similar to special needs dentistry, geriatric dentistry requires person-centered care and emphasized the need for interprofessional collaboration in alternative care settings.

Text

2023-12-18

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86972

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/