Chairside Dental Assistants in U.S. Army Field Dental Units: A Report ofConsultation

摘要

This report contains information that the authors furnished to the U.S. ArmyTraining and Doctrine Command to justify the inclusion of chairside dental assistants in Army field dental units. It consists of a brief review of the literature and a discussion. We were able to locate three studies that attempted to quantify the benefits of using chairside assistants; all three reported substantial gains in productivity. The studies stressed productivity, but productivity alone is only one of the reasons for using chairside assistants. We discuss three other important considerations: patient safety, quality of care, and infection control. Keywords: Dentistry; Dental assistants; Field dental units; Productivity; Efficiency. (sdw)