Background
Little is known about patients' or carers' reported experiences of dental care provided using dental behaviour support (DBS) techniques. Qualitative literature can provide unique insight into these experiences.
Aim
To explore and synthesize qualitative literature related to patient experience of dental behaviour support.
Methods
A PROSPERO-registered systematic review of qualitative articles was undertaken. Studies were identified through MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Abstracts were screened by two reviewers and data were extracted to summarize the qualitative findings included within them. A thematic summary approach was used to synthesize the qualitative data identified.
Results
Twenty-three studies were included. Studies primarily explored experiences of dental care of children by speaking to their parents (n?=?16), particularly regarding paediatric dental general anaesthesia (DGA) (n?=?8). Studies of adults' experiences of DBS (n?=?7) covered a range of techniques. Nine studies explored broader dental care experiences and did not study specific DBS approaches. A thematic synthesis identified five themes applicable across the studies identified: Trust and the therapeutic alliance supporting effective care delivery; considered information sharing often alleviated anticipatory anxiety; control and autonomy-reduced anxieties; variations in the perceived treatment successes and failures of DBS techniques; and DBS techniques produced longer positive and negative impacts on patients beyond direct care provision.
Conclusion
Qualitative research has been under-utilized in research on DBS techniques. Care experiences of most DBS techniques outside of paediatric DGA are poorly understood. Building trust with patients and enabling autonomy appear to support positive patient-reported experiences of care.
To explore and synthesize qualitative literature related to patient experience of dental behaviour support.
ContributorsAndrew Geddis-Regan, Aisyah Binti Ahmad Fisal, James Bird, Isabel Fleischmann, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Phadraig
Disease Category: Dentistry & oral health
Disease Name: Endodontics
Age Range: Unknown
Sex: Either
Nature of Intervention: Other
- Systematic review of qualitative research
- Systematic review
Guided by the PICOS strategy, a search strategy was produced using keywords and MeSH headings. This was run on Medline (ViaOVID) Embase and PsycINFO via EBSCO. The specific search string (Supplemental Material S1) was modified within each database. Searches were run on 5 December 2022.Preliminary informal searches identified relevant studies published prior to 2000, so a decision was made to search for studies up to 25 years old (limited therefore to1997)