Faculty Bibliography

Quality assurance in dentistry traces its roots to the experience of medicine. Emerging challenges to the traditional practice of dentistry have created a more receptive environment for the introduction of quality assurance systems. This article underscores some of the historical perspectives as well as the critical issues facing dentistry with regard to quality assurance.

Although considerable efforts have been directed toward the development and utilization of marketing strategies for dental practices, little if any information exists in the specific area of the role quality assurance may play in marketing dental services. This article describes and analyzes the current relationship between quality assurance and marketing, given the complex array of factors on the horizon that may affect how dentistry is organized and delivered. It must become the role of the profession to see that the alliance between marketing and quality assurance continues and is utilized to assure the quality of care provided and accountability to the public.

A comprehensive outcome-oriented quality assurance methodology manual has been developed for use by practicing dentists. The audit consists of four parts. Provision for immediate feedback to providers in order to monitor behavior change is a critical part of the review process as is the emphasis on the appropriateness of care dimension, a relatively unexplored area of quality assurance activity.

A method for assessing the quality of dental care in neighborhood health centers has been presented. The audit uses implicit review for the evaluation of the overall process of dental care and explicit review for the technical component of the clinical audit and the evaluation of the dental record. This combined approach is favored over a totally explicit audit because it is more flexible and efficient and less threatening to the dentist. Although the "soft" structure of this audit could be criticized, the major issue is that a useable, simple quality assurance mechanism has been successfully used to improved the quality of dental care. Modifications of criteria will certainly evolve as quality assurance mechanisms improve.