Types of personnel projected to meet the future dental needs of society.
There is mounting pressure to re-examine the traditional methods for delivery of dental care. Good health, which includes good oral health, is becoming recognized as a basic right of all people and governments are obliged to subsidize health care in many countries. Part of the cost lies in the training of health professionals in the medical and dental schools. Though  conditions vary in different countries, there is an almost universal shortage of fully trained dentists, and with increasing demand for dental care there is no possibility of producing a sufficient number to meet the need. The profession finds itself overwhelmed by the need for treatment of dental disease and prevention is relatively neglected. It is necessary to determine whether the present methods of delivering dental care are the most efficient in terms of cost, always remembering that dentistry is a personal service and must not be dehumanized. There is ample experience to show that auxiliaries can be trained to undertake a range of tasks to a high standard and with an ethical approach to the patient. A number of such schemes are discussed in detail. Though it is clear that no single pattern will fulfil the needs of each individual country, some form of team dentistry in which the graduate dentist must always be the key member seems likely to be the best way of meeting the future dental health needs of the world.
D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D001315:Australia; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D003729:Dental Care; D006076:Government