Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Report of a Dental Team Training Symposium held in Sofia on 3 November 2007, Organised by the University of Kent, Centre for Dentistry and the Bulgarian Organisation Women in Health for Professionalism and Humanity

Kenneth A. Eaton, Stephen Lambert-Humble, Lydia Katrova, Deborah Reed, Kathryn Marshall

An Introductory Symposium on dental team training was held in Sofia in November 2008. The workshop explained the concept of working in a dental team and the roles of its clinical and nonclinical members. It then considered the extent to which team dentistry takes place in the different countries of the European Union and Economic Area and how and why it has developed in the United Kingdom. The participants then considered aspects that would benefit patients and dental professionals in Bulgaria. Training systems for dental nurses were considered in the afternoon and a distance learning programmes for dental nurses was demonstrated. The workshop finished with groups of the participating dentists and dental nurses listing their perceived training needs and hopes for the future. It is hoped to hold follow up seminars to help deliver these training needs.