Melbourne Dental School - Research Publications
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ItemDecision-Making concerning Involuntary Oral Care for Older Individuals with Dementia(MDPI, 2022-12)Many older individuals with dementia (OIWD) show care-resistant behavior for oral care. Providing care despite resistance is considered to be involuntary care. Although involuntary care should be minimized, in some OIWD it may be necessary to avoid health risks. This study aims to assess the attitudes of healthcare providers with regard to involuntary oral care provision for OIWD who show care-resistant behavior. An online questionnaire consisting of general questions and case specific questions was administered via social media and networking to individuals involved in the oral care of OIWD. A total of 309 participants were included in this study. The outcomes of the questionnaires were categorized per case. In all cases, a discrepancy was seen between the assessment of oral health problems as potentially harmful (range: 73.1-93.5%) and the willingness to provide involuntary care (range: 31.1-63.4%). Hence, many healthcare providers are aware of the subsequent potential health risks related to not providing care, but are still reluctant to provide involuntary oral care. Therefore, many OIWD who show care-resistant behavior potentially do not receive the necessary oral care they require.
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ItemPreparedness for practice of newly qualified dental practitioners in the Australian context: an exploratory study(BMC, 2022-08-18)BACKGROUND: The current study explored the perspectives of preparedness for dental practice from a range of relevant stakeholders (i.e., educators, employers, final-year students, graduates, practitioners, and professional associations) using an anonymous online survey in which participants described either their preparedness for practice, or the preparedness of graduates they have encountered, across six domains. RESULTS: A total of 120 participants completed the survey. Participants were from several Australian states and territories; regional, rural, and urban locations; and working in the public and private sector. Students and new graduates generally felt prepared for activities in all the identified domains. Stakeholders reported consistently that the knowledge of dental profession graduates was at the required level to enter practice in Australia in a safe way. Activities involving the knowledge of clinical entrepreneurship and financial solvency were the dimensions where students and graduates felt least prepared (e.g., explaining fees, negotiating finances). In the domains involving clinical and technical competencies, students and new graduates self-assessed as less prepared around managing dental trauma and medical emergencies. On the other hand, activities around social and community orientation, and to a lesser extent professional attitudes and ethical judgements, were the dimensions where students and graduates felt the most prepared. CONCLUSIONS: Present findings indicate that there appear to be good standards of preparedness for practice for graduate dental professionals. This exploratory study provides insights into the nature of preparedness for Australian dental professionals and provides a basis for targeting education and professional development to address areas of need.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableEnriching the Value of Patient Experience Feedback: Web-Based Dashboard Development Using Co-design and Heuristic Evaluation.(JMIR Publications Inc., 2022-02-03)BACKGROUND: There is an abundance of patient experience data held within health care organizations, but stakeholders and staff are often unable to use the output in a meaningful and timely way to improve care delivery. Dashboards, which use visualized data to summarize key patient experience feedback, have the potential to address these issues. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop a patient experience dashboard with an emphasis on Friends and Family Test (FFT) reporting, as per the national policy drive. METHODS: A 2-stage approach was used-participatory co-design involving 20 co-designers to develop a dashboard prototype, followed by iterative dashboard testing. Language analysis was performed on free-text patient experience data from the FFT, and the themes and sentiments generated were used to populate the dashboard with associated FFT metrics. Heuristic evaluation and usability testing were conducted to refine the dashboard and assess user satisfaction using the system usability score. RESULTS: The qualitative analysis from the co-design process informed the development of the dashboard prototype with key dashboard requirements and a significant preference for bubble chart display. The heuristic evaluation revealed that most cumulative scores had no usability problems (18/20, 90%), had cosmetic problems only (7/20, 35%), or had minor usability problems (5/20, 25%). The mean System Usability Scale score was 89.7 (SD 7.9), suggesting an excellent rating. CONCLUSIONS: The growing capacity to collect and process patient experience data suggests that data visualization will be increasingly important in turning feedback into improvements to care. Through heuristic usability, we demonstrated that very large FFT data can be presented in a thematically driven, simple visual display without the loss of the nuances and still allow for the exploration of the original free-text comments. This study establishes guidance for optimizing the design of patient experience dashboards that health care providers find meaningful, which in turn drives patient-centered care.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableUsing natural language processing to understand, facilitate and maintain continuity in patient experience across transitions of care.(Elsevier BV, 2022-01)BACKGROUND: Patient centred care necessitates that healthcare experiences and perceived outcomes be considered across all transitions of care. Information encoded within free-text patient experience comments relating to transitions of care are not captured in a systematic way due to the manual resource required. We demonstrate the use of natural language processing (NLP) to extract meaningful information from the Friends and Family Test (FFT). METHODS: Free-text fields identifying favourable service ("What did we do well?") and areas requiring improvement ("What could we do better?") were extracted from 69,285 FFT reports across four care settings at a secondary care National Health Service (NHS) hospital. Sentiment and patient experience themes were coded by three independent coders to produce a training dataset. The textual data was standardised with a series of pre-processing techniques and the performance of six machine learning (ML) models was obtained. The best performing ML model was applied to predict the themes and sentiment from the remaining reports. Comments relating to transitions of care were extracted, categorised by sentiment, and care setting to identify the most frequent words/combinations presented as tri-grams and word clouds. RESULTS: The support vector machine (SVM) ML model produced the highest accuracy in predicting themes and sentiment. The most frequent single words relating to transition and continuity with a negative sentiment were "discharge" in inpatients and Accident and Emergency, "appointment" in outpatients, and "home' in maternity. Tri-grams identified from the negative sentiments such as 'seeing different doctor', 'information aftercare lacking', 'improve discharge process' and 'timing discharge letter' have highlighted some of the problems with care transitions. None of this information was available from the quantitative data. CONCLUSIONS: NLP can be used to identify themes and sentiment from patient experience survey comments relating to transitions of care in all four healthcare settings. With the help of a quality improvement framework, findings from our analysis may be used to guide patient-centred interventions to improve transitional care processes.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableUtilising surface-level data to explore surface, tooth, individual and family influence on the aetiology of hypomineralised second primary molars(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2021-10)OBJECTIVES: Hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM) are common developmental enamel defects. The aims of this study were to use surface-level data to explore the clustering of HSPM at four levels (family, child, tooth, surface). METHODS: This study of 172 twin pairs was nested within the Peri/postnatal Epigenetic Twin Study. HSPM was measured by standardised oral examinations at age 6 years. Multilevel logistic regression models were fitted to assess the correlation structure of surface level data and variation in HSPM. The associations between surface level risk factors and HSPM were then explored using the multilevel logistic regression model using the best fitting correlation structure. RESULTS: The prevalence of HSPM was 68 (19.8%) children, with a total of 141 (10.3%) teeth and 264 tooth surfaces (6.3%) affected. Multilevel models revealed that a hierarchical structure accounting for correlation at the family, child and tooth level best accounted for the variation in HSPM. The estimated variances from the best fitting model (Model 3) were largest at the family level (12.27, 95% CI 6.68, 22.51) compared with 5.23 at the child level and 1.93 at the tooth level. Application of regression analysis utilising this three-level correlation structure identified tooth/surface level factors in addition to the previously identified familial and individual risk factors for HSPM. CONCLUSION: In addition to familial (environmental and genetic) and unique child-level factors, the aetiology of HSPM is likely to be influenced by local tooth-level factors.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableRoot canal instrumentation efficacy of non-fused and fused primary molar roots: a micro-computed tomography study(SPRINGER, 2021-10)PURPOSE: Pulpectomy may be indicated in restorable primary teeth exhibiting irreversible pulpitis or pulpal necrosis. The purpose of this study was to compare the cleaning and shaping efficacy of NiTi systems (Reciproc® Blue and MTwo®) with manual stainless-steel instrumentation in primary molars using micro-CT analysis. METHODS: Fifty-seven maxillary second primary molars were scanned using micro-CT. Teeth with three divergent roots were divided randomly (n = 15) according to instrument type (K file, MTwo®, and Reciproc® Blue). Teeth with root fusion were instrumented manually as a separate group (n = 12). Pre- and post-instrumentation micro-CT images were superimposed, and the instrumentation area (IA) and procedural complications were recorded. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in IA between file systems was observed in the non-fused teeth. The mean IA of fused roots was significantly lower than in the non-fused distobuccal (p = 0.003) and palatal (p < 0.001) roots. The root segment had a significant effect on IA (p < 0.001) and the highest mean IA was observed in the apical third. Manual instrumentation had fewer procedural complications compared with rotary systems. CONCLUSION: No differences were determined in the cleaning and shaping effectiveness of all systems in non-fused teeth. Uninstrumented areas (> 60%) occurred in both non-fused and fused primary teeth with fewer procedural complications observed after manual instrumentation.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableStructural integrity of MIH-affected teeth after treatment with fluoride varnish or resin infiltration: An 18-Month randomized clinical trial(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2021-02)OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of fluoride varnish (FV) therapies or resin infiltration (RI) to maintain the structural integrity of Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) -affected teeth. METHODS: Fifty-one children aged 6-12 years with at least one incisor and one first permanent molar with yellow/brown MIH opacities were included. Patients were randomly allocated into three groups: FV - Fluoride Varnish (Duraphat); FV+etch - Fluoride Varnish (Duraphat) after enamel etching with 37% phosphoric acid; or RI - Resin Infiltration system (Icon). Opacities were monitored for 18 months. The primary outcome was the loss of integrity due to post-eruptive enamel breakdown (PEB). Covariables included sex, age, DMFT index, opacity colour, plaque index, number of MIH-affected teeth, and number of MIH-affected surfaces. Fisher's Exact was used to test the association of treatments with PEB, the Kaplan-Meyer method analysed the survival rates and Cox-regression determined which covariables would predict failure (α=0.05). RESULTS: From a total of 235 teeth, the PEB rate for RI (6.1%) was significantly lower (p<0.05) than FV (17.9%; OR 3.0, 95%CI 1.07, 8.48) and FV+etch (17.3%; OR 3.1, 95%CI 1.13, 8.73). DMFT index >3, brown opacities, cusp involvement, and age between 6-8 years predicted PEB (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Resin infiltration positively influenced the structural integrity maintenance of MIH-affected teeth by decreasing the risk of enamel breakdown over18 months follow-up. Registry of Clinical Trials (RBR-8wwk3n). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Resin infiltration proved to be a more efficacious intervention to maintain the structural integrity of MIH-affected teeth than fluoride varnish therapies.
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ItemPreemptive analgesia with ibuprofen increases anesthetic efficacy in children with severe molar: a triple-blind randomized clinical trial(UNIV SAO PAULO FAC ODONTOLOGIA BAURU, 2022)UNLABELLED: Molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is often accompanied by dental hypersensitivity and difficulty in achieving effective analgesia. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of preemptive analgesia in children with severe MIH, post-eruptive enamel breakdown, and hypersensitivity. METHODOLOGY: Ibuprofen (10 mg/kg child weight) or placebo was administered, followed by infiltrative anesthesia and restoration with resin composite. Hypersensitivity was evaluated in five moments. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test. RESULTS: Preemptive analgesia provided benefits for the treatment of severe cases of MIH, with an increase in the effectiveness of infiltrative anesthesia and improved patient comfort during the restorative procedure. CONCLUSION: Preemptive analgesia has shown efficacy in reducing hypersensitivity during restorative dental procedures, evidencing the significance of this study for patients with MIH and hypersensitivity.
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ItemCaries experience and gingival health in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus-A cross-sectional study(WILEY, 2022-06)AIM: To investigate the oral health of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its associations with diabetes-related and lifestyle factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study at a large tertiary hospital pediatric diabetes clinic. Oral examination determined dental caries experience and gingival health. Secondary outcome measures included salivary characteristics, oral hygiene and dietary practices, and diabetes-related factors. RESULTS: Eighty children and adolescents with T1D participated; mean (SD) age and HbA1c were 13.4(2.6) years and 7.7(0.9)%, respectively. Forty-seven (59%) participants had one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth; 75 (94%) participants had gingivitis. Half (50%) reported ≥3 hypoglycemic episodes necessitating rapid-acting carbohydrate in the previous week. Sixty-two participants (78%) had normal saliva flow, however, 42 (52%) had reduced salivary buffering capacity. Glycemic control (HbA1c ) was not associated with caries experience, gingival health or salivary characteristics. Increased frequency of tooth brushing (OR, 0.11; 95%CI 0.01-0.97, p = 0.05) and interdental flossing (OR, 0.31; 95%CI 0.12-0.81, p = 0.02) were associated with lower caries experience. Interdental flossing (OR, 0.31; 95% CI 0.12-0.80, p = 0.02) and good oral hygiene (OR, 0.06; 95% CI 0.01-0.22, p < 0.001) were associated with less gingivitis. CONCLUSION: Poor oral health is common in children with T1D, regardless of HbA1c. Given potential implications for short- and long-term systemic health, this study demonstrates the need for targeted strategies to improve oral health in children with T1D.
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ItemPreparedness for practice of newly qualified dental professionals in Australia-educator, employer, and consumer perspectives(BMC, 2022-05-23)BACKGROUND: Limited data regarding the perspectives of other observers (i.e. those who educate, employ or receive care from) of new graduates' preparedness to practice is available. The present study aimed to explore perceptions of different observers regarding the preparedness to practice and work readiness of newly qualified dental professionals. This broader range of perspectives is crucial to inform the development of educational programs, including continuing professional development, for newly qualified dental professionals, by clarifying the skills, knowledge and behaviours expected by the dental profession and wider public. RESULTS: Nineteen individual qualitative interviews were undertaken. Interview participants included clinical demonstrators (n = 9; 2 Oral Health Therapists; 5 Dentists; and 2 Prosthetists), dental course convenors (n = 4), representatives of large employers (n = 2), and consumers (n = 4). According to this diverse group of respondents, dental students receive adequate theoretical and evidence-based information in their formal learning and teaching activities, which prepares them for practice as dental professionals. There were no specific clinical areas or procedures where preparedness was highlighted as a major concern. Notwithstanding this, specific graduate skills which would benefit from further training and consolidation were identified, including areas where higher levels of experience would be beneficial. Nonetheless, respondents indicated that new graduates were aware of their limitations and had developed self-discipline and ethics that would allow them to identify conditions/situations where they would not have the experience or expertise to provide care safely. CONCLUSIONS: From an observer perspective, dental students appeared to have gained adequate theoretical and evidence-based information in their formal learning and teaching activities to prepared them to commence practicing safely as dental professionals. Areas were identified in which new graduates were underprepared and when transitional support may be required.