Table 1.
Percentage of dentists endorsing barriers in the practice environment to placing sealants on NCCL and potential implementation strategies targeting barriers in the practice environment
| Question | Response option 1 | Response option 2 | Response option 3 | Response option 4 | Response option 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage (n/total responding) | Percentage (n/total responding) | Percentage (n/total responding) | Percentage (n/total responding) | Percentage (n/total responding) | |
| Potential Barriers | |||||
| Placing sealants to arrest the progression of NCCL would put me at risk from a liability perspective. | Strongly agree 2% (1/65) | Somewhat agree 32% (21/65) | Neither agree nor disagree 29% (19/65) | Somewhat disagree 26% (17/65) | Strongly disagree 26% (17/65) |
| How often do you place sealants to prevent occlusal caries? | Always 36% (24/67) | Frequently 58% (39/67) | Occasionally 6% (4/67) | Rarely 0% | Never 0% |
| How often do patients complain when a sealant needs to be replaced? | Always 0% | Frequently 0% | Occasionally 9% (6/67) | Rarely 49% (3/67) | Never 42% (28/67) |
| Implementation Strategies | |||||
| Could hygiene and assistant staff do an adequate job placing a sealant over an NCCL? | Yes 35% (23/65) | Maybe 46% (30/65) | No 18% (12/65) | ||
| Does the hygiene and assistant staff have capacity in their schedules to treat patients who need sealants for NCCL? | Yes 11% (7/65) | Maybe 55% (36/65) | No 34% (22) | ||
| How easy would it be to change the workflow in your clinic to allow the dental hygienist and dentist to routinely apply sealants on NCCL? | Extremely easy 2% (1/65) | Somewhat easy 14% (9/65) | Neither easy nor difficult 25% (16/65) | Somewhat difficult 45% (29/65) | Extremely difficult 15% (10/65) |