Leading the Oral Healthcare Team in Risk Assessment

Abstract

Dentists will usually be responsible for leading their team to risk assess patients for disease. The benefits of a team approach to risk assessment are considerable; however, it is generally accepted that dentists receive little training in leadership skills. These skills can be developed by adhering to quite straightforward models of leadership, which have been proven to be effective in many spheres of activity. This chapter discusses how such a model proposed by Radcliffe (Radcliffe, Leadership plain and simple. Pearson Education, London, 2010) can be applied to engage the team to deliver disease risk assessment in dental practice.