Allocation of Dental Professionals in Hospitals and a Nursing Home

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that optimum allocation of medical professionals in hospitals and nursing homes would lead to improvements the quality of health care or safety. However, little is known about the effects of dental professional staffing on medical outcomes in general hospitals. The present study investigated the allocation and working hours of medical and dental professional staff in inpatient wards. We conducted a self-administered survey on working hours and work practices with 274 medical and dental staff in four general hospitals and one nursing home in Hiroshima and Okayama Prefectures. We calculated the working time devoted to inpatient wards, and then further calculated the ratio of medical and dental professionals to 100 beds, which was defined as the staff-to-bed ratio. The results showed that the average staff-to-bed ratio was significantly lower with dentists or dental hygienists （0.6 and 0.3, respectively）compared to the other medical professionals （p＜0.05）. The working time devoted to inpatients was also significantly shorter for dental hygienists （2.4±2.3 h）. These findings suggest that allocation of dental professionals to inpatient wards would be insufficient. While scientific evidence about the relationships between oral conditions and systematic disease has substantially increased, further investigation would be necessary to establish the optimum allocation and working time of dental professionals for inpatient wards.