"Sorry, I'm not a dentist": perspectives of rural GPs on oral health in the bush

The Medical Journal of Australia
Tony BarnettLeonard Crocombe

Abstract

To examine the provision of oral health and oral health service in rural areas from the perspective of general practitioners working in communities without resident dentists. A qualitative approach using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 30 GPs from rural Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia, conducted between October 2013 and October 2014. Four major themes emerged from the interviews: rural oral health, managing oral health presentations, barriers to patients seeing a dentist, and improving oral health. Rural GPs saw patients with a range of oral health problems, including toothache, abscesses and trauma, and observed poor oral health in their communities. Some acknowledged that they were not confident when dealing with oral health problems; they typically provided short-term pain relief, prescriptions for antibiotics, and advised patients to see a dentist. Participants noted that rural patients may not see a dentist when advised to do so because symptoms had abated, oral health was regarded as a low priority, or the costs of travelling to and seeing a dentist discouraged them. The interviewees recommended building the capacity of GPs to better care for patients with oral health problems, establishing more eff...Continue Reading

References

Jun 27, 2002·The Journal of the American Dental Association·Leonard A CohenC Daniel Mullins
Jun 27, 2003·Annals of Emergency Medicine·Charlotte LewisBrian Johnston
Sep 18, 2007·International Journal for Quality in Health Care : Journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care·Allison TongJonathan Craig
Sep 3, 2008·The Journal of the American Dental Association·Leonard A CohenLlewellyn J Cornelius
Jun 2, 2009·Dental Clinics of North America·James Fricton, Hong Chen
Jul 25, 2013·International Dental Journal·Marc Tennant, Estie Kruger
May 20, 2015·Australian Dental Journal·E Kruger, M Tennant

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antifungals

An antifungal, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Discover the latest research on antifungals here.

Antifungals (ASM)

An antifungal, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Discover the latest research on antifungals here.