TRUCE - TReatment in Urgent dental Care: an Ethnographic study. v.4
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Which factors in dentist-patient interactions influence treatment in urgent dental care?
IRAS ID
214573
Contact name
Wendy Thompson
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 16 days
Research summary
Which factors in dentist-patient interactions influence treatment in urgent dental care?
Nearly one-in-three people choose to see a dentist only when they have a dental problem, such as toothache or abscess. Urgent dental treatment is focused on addressing pain and stabilising the problem; it is usually delivered within high-street dental practices or out-of-hours dental clinics. According to clinical guidelines, optimal treatment for urgent dental problems usually involves an intervention, such as extraction of a tooth. Prescription-only treatment plans, such as for painkillers or antibiotics, are rarely indicated. Published research provides some evidence (from interviews with clinicians) to explain why provision of urgent dental care often does not comply with clinical guidelines. The aim of this study is to identify what factors in dentist-patient interactions influence treatment during actual urgent dental appointments.
By observing urgent dental appointments and scrutinising audio-recordings of them, this study will explore what happens during patient-dentist interactions. Together with clinician questionnaires and follow-up interviews with patients and clinicians, this study will identify and explore influences on decision making. Urgent appointments in high-street dental practices and out-of-hours dental clinics in West Yorkshire and Lancashire will be studied (scheduled Spring 2017). Adults attending for urgent dental care and who are willing and able to give consent to the study will be eligible to participate; people who are unable to consent due to severe pain or emotional distress will be excluded from the study. Some appointments will be selected for further in-depth study to gain deeper understanding of the range of influences affecting decision making; the follow-up telephone interviews are currently scheduled for April to June 2017. Understanding gained during this study will inform follow-on research to develop ways to optimise the provision of urgent dental care.
The study is funded through NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship: NIHR-DRF-2016-09-148.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0487
Date of REC Opinion
9 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion