A Survey of Collaboration Awareness between Dentist and Dietician：Aiming at Enhancing Cooperation for Individuals with Dysphagia

Abstract

We conducted a survey to clarify the actual situation of collaboration between dentists and dieticians, the skills and effects of dieticians required by dentists, and the issues of promoting collaboration.

In this survey, we received responses from 95 people who distributed questionnaires to 219 members of the Sunto Dental Association, Mishima City Dental Association, and Numazu City Dental Association in Shizuoka prefecture.

The skills required for a dietician for cooperation were “to evaluate and judge nutritional status corresponding to evaluation of feeding and swallowing function” and “to propose a meal form based on evaluation”. These results were expected to have the effect of “improving patientʼs QOL and nutritional status”. Ten dentists experienced collaboration with dieticians, five dentists wanted to increase collaboration frequency more than once a month, and six dentists wanted to increase more. Types of collaboration （17 cases） were most common in order of “proposal/guidance on meal form of dysphagia diet” and “nutritional guidance for malnutrition”. They evaluated these effects as “very beneficial”. In addition, 79 people （93%） who had no collaborative experience thought “I would like to collaborate if necessary.” The reasons why dentists could not cooperate were “I do not know the method of cooperation and the client”, “Inadequate benefits of cooperation with dentists and collaboration with dieticians” and “I do not know what dieticians can do”.

The results of this survey suggest that, in order to promote collaboration, it is necessary to enhance collaborative systems and to improve the skills of dieticians that are required by dentists, and to deepen the mutual understanding of specialized fields of both dentists and dieticians.