Key Points
-
Emphasises the importance of effective triaging in a primary dental setting.
-
Demonstrates the potential benefits of implementing a reception-based triage protocol on patient waiting times and efficient use of clinical time.
-
Highlights the need for further research and audit in related areas to improve the body of evidence as well as raising the question as to whether reception staff should be GDC registered.
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Anderson R . Patient expectations of emergency dental services: a qualitative interview study. Br Dent J 2004; 197: 331–334.
Aacharya R P, Gastmans C, Denier Y . Emergency department triage: an ethical analysis. BMC Emerg Med 2011; 11: 16.
Scottish dental clinical effectiveness programme. Management of acute dental problems: guidance for healthcare professionals. 2013. Available at http://www.sdcep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/SDCEP+MADP+Guidance+March+2013.pdf (accessed January 2019).
Scottish dental clinical effectiveness programme. Emergency dental care: practice guide. 2007. Available at http://www.sdcep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/EDCPracticeGuide6pp.pdf (accessed January 2019).
Stein C D, Xiao X, Levine S, Schleyer T K L, Hochheiser H, Thyvalikakath T P . A prototype mobile application for triaging dental emergencies. J Am Dent Assoc 2016; 147: 782791.
Jones K, Roberts–Thomson K F, Spencer A J, Luzzi L . Predicting relative need for urgent dental care. Community Dent Health 2009; 26: 162169.
Luzzi L, Jones K, Spencer A J, Roberts–Thomson K R . Association of urgent dental care with subjective oral health indicators and psychosocial impact. Community Dent Health 2009; 26: 7783.
Jones K . Comparison of a predictive algorithm with receptionist triage for priority public dental care. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2015; 43: 586592.
Anderson R, Thomas D W, Phillips C J . The effectiveness of out–of–hours dental services: II. Patient satisfaction. Br Dent J 2005; 198: 151156.
Jiwa M, Mathers N, Campbell M . The effect of GP telephone triage on numbers seeking same-day appointments. Br J Gen Pract 2002; 52: 390391.
Vaona A, Pappas Y, Grewal R S, Ajaz M, Majeed A, Car J . Training interventions for improving telephone consultation skills in clinicians. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017; 1: 10.1002/14651858.CD010034.pub2.
General Dental Council. Scope of practice. 2013. Available at https://www.gdc-uk.org/professionals/standards/st-scope-of-practice (accessed January 2019).
Ponnusamy A, Monty R, Alam N . Three year retrospective analysis of computer-assisted emergency dental triage in Tasmania, Australia. Rural Remote Health 2013; 13: 2353.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
No funding was received from any organisation or company in relation to this audit.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heggie, C. Triaging of non-scheduled appointments in general dental practice: a clinical audit. Br Dent J 226, 203–206 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2019.97
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2019.97
This article is cited by
-
Ability of the wider dental team to triage patients with acute conditions: a qualitative study
British Dental Journal (2020)
-
Expert view: Robert Ireland
British Dental Journal (2020)
