Presentations 2020: Ortho&Paeds

363 - Welsh Dental Trainees’ confidence and competence in completing orthodontic assessments and referrals.

J Curtis E Foster-Thomas C Eckhardt P Atkin
Presented by: Jacob Curtis
Morriston Hospital

Introduction Upon graduation, newly qualified dentists are expected to be ‘safe beginners’, which includes the ability to both appropriately conduct a basic orthodontic assessment including an Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and refer to specialist services. The orthodontic department receives countless inappropriate referrals, which not only increases waiting lists but affects clinical efficiency and leads to patient dissatisfaction. Methods A quality improvement project with prospective data collection started in December 2018 utilising a 20-question questionnaire based around knowledge and clinical ability in orthodontic assessment and referrals. Stage one was conducted at Welsh Deanery study days to a cohort of 100 DFTs and DCTs. Stage two consisted of an e-learning based teaching session conducted at study days in May 2019, with the same questionnaire repeated. Results This quality improvement project increased self-reported confidence in conducting orthodontic assessments from 67% to 95% and completing orthodontic referrals from 81% to 93%. At baseline, this cohort were only able to correctly IOTN score and determine dental age for 40.7% of clinical cases. Following the teaching intervention, this was improved with an average of 70.9% cases answered correctly. Interestingly, those who had hands-on orthodontic experience during dental training demonstrated improved confidence and competence with orthodontic assessments and referrals. Conclusion Despite improving the confidence and competence in completing orthodontic assessments and referrals in this cohort, there is still potential for improvement. The results highlight the need for continued professional development in this area to maintain competence in identifying malocclusions and referring appropriately and timely.
Consent Statement: There are no details on individual patients reported within the abstract.

Poster