Quality Improvement and Audit in Dentistry

This book is an introduction to quality improvement methods for dentists and other oral health professionals. It includes audit, which will be familiar to many dental professionals, and sets it in the wider context of quality improvement theory and practice. The book provides sufficient information to allow dental practices to undertake clinical audit and quality improvement using current best practice. The World Dental Federation has called for greater attention to quality in dentistry and has argued for the use of quality improvement methods. In the United Kingdom, the health services in Wales and Scotland have begun to produce materials to support dental quality improvement work. The Care Quality Commission in England has emphasised the requirement for audit in dental care. Dental practices in Scotland are now required to undertake QI projects. In the USA, the American Dental Association now encourages audit and QI training guidance has been issued by the California Department of Public Health Office of Oral Health. This book provides dental teams with the information they need to meet these local, national and international requirements. It describes the components of quality and patient safety and sets dental quality improvement in the context of wider literature. Approaches to audit and quality improvement are discussed, with use of dental examples. It explains practical approaches that can be applied by any dental team. The methods described will support teams to improve the quality of their services and to meet the needs of their patients.

Dr Rhona Günhan, Associate Dentist, is an associate dentist at The Dental Centre, a mixed NHS and private practice in Saltcoats, Scotland. She has worked in several settings including corporate and independent practices ranging from inner-city to rural locations. Rhona started her clinical career as a dental hygienist/therapist and then completed dental vocational training in Glasgow, Scotland. She graduated from the University of Dundee with a BDS and studied at the University of the Highlands and Islands for a postgraduate certificate in Quality Improvement in Healthcare, gaining a distinction. It was during this course that she developed a strong interest in quality improvement. Dr Cameron Stark, Lecturer, University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, is a Module Leader at the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, teaching on Patient Safety and healthcare quality improvement. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Glasgow and holds Master's degrees from the University of Glasgow and the University of Leicester, UK. Cameron worked as a Consultant in Public Health Medicine with NHS Scotland for over 20 years, and was Quality Improvement Science lead for NHS Highland. He has co-written or co-edited nine previous textbooks and has published over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Patient Safety Chapter 3: Audit Chapter 4: Quality Improvement Chapter 5: Scoping a Problem Chapter 6: PDSA Cycles Chapter 7: Measurement Chapter 8: Embedding Change Chapter 9: Change at Scale Chapter 10: Conclusions Glossary