Complaints about dental practitioners: an analysis of 6 years of complaints about dentists, dental prosthetists, oral health therapists, dental therapists and dental hygienists in Australia Thomas, L. A., Tibble, H., Too, L. S., Hopcraft, M. S. and Bismark, M. M. 2018, Complaints about dental practitioners: an analysis of 6 years of complaints about dentists, dental prosthetists, oral health therapists, dental therapists and dental hygienists in Australia, Australian dental journal, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 285-293, doi: 10.1111/adj.12625. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads too-complaintsaboutdental-2018.pdf Published version application/pdf 493.84KB 796 Title Complaints about dental practitioners: an analysis of 6 years of complaints about dentists, dental prosthetists, oral health therapists, dental therapists and dental hygienists in Australia Author(s) Thomas, L. A. Tibble, H. Too, L. S. Hopcraft, M. S. Bismark, M. M. Journal name Australian dental journal Volume number 63 Issue number 3 Start page 285 End page 293 Total pages 9 Publisher Wiley Place of publication Chichester, Eng. Publication date 2018-09 ISSN 0045-0421 1834-7819 Keyword(s) Complaints dental practitioners dentists disciplinary action regulation risk regulation Summary BACKGROUND: Previous research has found dental practitioners at elevated risk of complaint compared with other health professions. This study aimed to describe the frequency, nature and risk factors for complaints involving dental practitioners. METHODS: We assembled a national dataset of complaints about registered health practitioners in Australia between January 2011 and December 2016. We classified complaints into 23 issues across three domains: health, performance and conduct. We compared rates of complaints about dental practitioners and other health practitioners. We used negative binomial regression analysis to identify factors associated with complaints. RESULTS: Dental practitioners made up 3.5% of health practitioners, yet accounted for approximately 10% of complaints. Dental practitioners had the highest rate of complaints among fourteen health professions (42.7 per 1000 practitioners per year) with higher rates among dentists and dental prosthetists than allied dental practitioners. Male practitioners were at a higher risk of complaints. Most complaints about dentists related to treatments and procedures (59%). Around 4% of dentists received more than one complaint, accounting for 49% of complaints about dentists. In 60% of closed cases no regulatory action was required. Around 13% of complaints resulted in restrictive actions, such as conditions on practice. CONCLUSION: Improved understanding of patterns may assist regulatory boards and professional associations to ensure competent practice and protect patient safety. Language eng DOI 10.1111/adj.12625 Field of Research 1105 Dentistry 1103 Clinical Sciences 1117 Public Health And Health Services HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2018, The Authors Free to Read? Yes Use Rights Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30111898 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Health and Social Development Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (open access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 27 Jul 2018, 12:46:07 EST Sat, 28 Jul 2018, 05:05:55 EST Thu, 06 Sep 2018, 06:03:44 EST Thu, 06 Sep 2018, 13:31:37 EST Thu, 06 Sep 2018, 13:33:41 EST Fri, 07 Sep 2018, 09:59:52 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 5 times in TR Web of Science Cited 3 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 170 Abstract Views, 796 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 27 Jul 2018, 12:46:07 EST

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