Dental care staff’s experience with risk assessment of dental erosion: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: The risk assessment of dental erosion among children and adolescents is an important aspect of dental care, as dental erosion constitutes a rapidly growing, global problem. Dental professionals rely solely on their own perception, as the current risk assessment process is not completely automatized, which affects the risk assessment reliability. Aim: To explore dental professionals’ experiences with risk assessment of dental erosion among children and adolescents. Method: In-depth interview was used as data collection method. A total of 11 dental professionals were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The findings were summarized in the categories Professionals’ responsibility, Systematic approach, and Collaboration and communication. Dental staff perceived that their basic knowledge regarding erosion should be improved, and skills development was desired to reduce the knowledge gaps around the risk assessment of dental erosion. They alleged that the systematic approach could be improved by reducing workplace stress, implementing a universal dental erosion index, improving the existing risk assessment software, and automating the risk assessment of the condition. Dental professionals also experienced a need to calibrate and collaborate with each other and with other healthcare professionals to improve patient care. Conclusion: Dental professionals experienced their basic knowledge of dental erosion and their risk assessment as good, but a more advanced skill development was required. Furthermore, they experienced the risk assessment software as a good tool that should be improved to compile more objective risk assessment. A universal erosion index was also requested.