It's easy to overlook hospital dentists and the crucial role they play in healthcare services. In this blog we’ll probe the key findings of a study aiming to explore what hospital dentists find attractive about training posts, what these findings mean for dentistry and wider healthcare and suggest how improvements can be made. We want to shed light on hospital dentists - raising awareness of their importance and highlighting their diverse and crucial role.

What do hospital dentists do?

Hospital dentists provide care for children and adults with complex dental conditions that cannot be treated in general dental practice or the community. These patients could have oral health problems due to systemic illness, congenital conditions or trauma. Hospital dentists handle emergency cases, perform surgery and work with multidisciplinary teams to treat patients needing dental care as part of a broader medical plan. They provide comprehensive care to restore functionality and appearance, helping patients eat, speak and breathe properly having a significant impact on quality of life.

Examining the State of Hospital Dentistry

Our study provides valuable insight into the state of hospital dentistry and calls for increased support, resources and recognition for hospital dentists. The work was triggered by concerns that hospital dentistry in the UK is facing a shortage of specialists - a population crucial for the healthcare system and patient well-being.

The study was conducted during the summer of 2024 when we asked hospital dentists what they found attractive about speciality training to help understand what drives dentists to work in this setting as a step towards addressing workforce planning and staff availability concerns. We combined this with questions examining various aspects of hospital dentistry from staffing levels to patient outcomes.

A notable finding of the study is that aspects discouraging dentists from training to be specialists, working culture and staff shortages, are aspects that have a broad impact on hospital dentists and the profession as a whole.

We found hospital dental departments to be under more pressure than ever. A relentless and unsustainable workload has been created by under resourcing and an increasing volume of patients with more complex needs. Hospital dentists are working harder to provide the care required in a sometimes unpleasant working environment, where some face racial discrimination, and are feeling the effects of shortcomings in general dental services. Respondents report staffing challenges recruitment freezes and difficulties in recruiting and retaining hospital dentists. This contributes to longer waiting times and overwhelmed hospital dentists with patients becoming disgruntled at being left while their condition deteriorates. The result is hospital dentists feeling undervalued, tired and overstretched with this affecting job satisfaction, wellbeing and overall morale.

Solutions for Improvement

Proactive steps must be taken to address these challenges and maintain the sector. More resources need to be allocated to dental departments to ensure an adequate number of dentists who have the infrastructure, equipment and staff necessary to deliver high-quality care. By investing in hospital dentists commissioners can ensure that specialised care for patients who need it can continue to be provided. Improved working conditions could also lead to a shift in workplace culture with a knock-on effect of improving retention, attracting dentists to the sector and making hospital dentistry more sustainable in the long term.

Conclusion

This study underscores the work of hospital dentists and the challenges they face in their day-to-day practice and highlights the need for action. Hospital dentists are an important part of the healthcare system. By raising awareness of their work and the challenges they face we can better appreciate this vital sector of the profession and work towards a healthcare system that supports them. Maintaining, and retaining, hospital dentists is not solely about keeping staff - it’s about maintaining high-quality, compassionate care for those who rely on specialised dental services in a hospital setting. A shortage of hospital dentists could lead to delayed or inadequate care for vulnerable populations and a compromised ability to provide integrated care.

Peter Dyer

Chair of the BDA Central Committee for Hospital Dental Services (CCHDS)

This important study has clearly identified the challenges faced by all hospital dentists at different times of their careers, with some common themes running as a thread through the responses. Having experienced many of the challenges, particularly those involving patients, I was disappointed that these still regularly occur to the detriment of our career satisfaction. However the study also identified some extremely positive reasons for undertaking hospital dentistry, such as helping patients, enjoyment of work, feeling appreciated by patients and gaining a sense of achievement. There are some issues that do need to be addressed urgently relating to dental recruitment and the experience of some trainees from minority ethnic backgrounds of bullying and harassment. Racism in the hospital dental service cannot and will not be tolerated.

Peter graduated in dentistry from the Royal Dental Hospital, London and in medicine from University College Hospital, London. He was appointed consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery to the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust where he worked as the medical director and is now responsible for appraisal and revalidation of medical staff. He is a clinical senior lecturer in oral surgery, past President of the BDA and Chair of CCHDS. Peter was honoured with an OBE in 2024 for services to Dentistry and Medicine. The CCHDS stands behind hospital dentists advocating for their needs and playing an essential role in representing their interests to improve the working conditions and aid the development of policies that affect them.