Background: No evaluation of oral healthcare system in Slovenia has yet been made. This evaluation could improve an oral healthcare development strategy and better oral health of Slovenian population. The aim of the study was to contribute to an establishment of a continuous monitoring of oral healthcare system in Slovenia according to European guidelines and national needs. Methods: The study was based on European Global Oral Health Indicators Development (EGOHID) methodology. We used existing oral healthcare system data from health statistics' databases and data of “National survey on oral health for oral healthcare providers in Slovenia in 2019”. A total of 103 dentists from Slovenia were included in the study. The observed outcomes were dentists' satisfaction with the quality of care given and dentists' satisfaction with the remuneration provided. The explanatory factors were a number of different dental practices in which dentists regularly work, a type of dental practice, dentist's employment status, a number of patients' visits on an average week and a number of working hours on an average week. I performed descriptive statistics and used hi-square tests for data analysis. Results: According to the last available data a share of oral healthcare expenditure was 5.5 % the share of the services paid by compulsory health insurance, accounting for 146.4 million EUR (in year 2018). 4.7 % of all healthcare expenditures was spent on dental outpatient curative care, which accounted for 0.4 % of gross domestic product (GDP) (in year 2017). Absolute number of all active dentists in Slovenia was 1,522, which determines a rate of 73,5 dentists per 100,000 inhabitants (in year 2018). The basic analysis showed that dentists' satisfaction with the quality of care given is higher than dentists' satisfaction with the remuneration provided. The results of hi-square test showed dentists' satisfaction with the quality of care given is higher among those who work in more than one dental practice, those who work in private office, self-employed, those who work more than 40 hours a week; but none of the differences was statistically significant. Dentists' satisfaction with the remuneration provided was higher among those who work in more than one dental practice, those who work in private office, self-employed, those who have more than 75 patients' visits per week, those who work more than 40 hours a week; the only statistically significant difference was shown for the explanatory factor »dentist's employment status« (p = 0,027). Conclusion: The results of this study provide more sufficient data of oral healthcare system in Slovenia. Major challenges for the future could be an establishment of a continuous monitoring of oral healthcare system and a decision making on evidence-based efficient measures of oral health politics.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 32454147At the professional scientific meeting, the authors presented the preliminary results of the national cross-sectional epidemiological survey of non-clinical indicators of children's and adolescents' oral health, conducted in 2019 (»CRP V3-1715« project).
F.18 Transfer of new know-how to direct users (seminars, fora, conferences)
COBISS.SI-ID: 4627941In a chapter of the monographic publication, the authors give recommendations on children's oral health care. The foundations of healthy habits should be considered from birth onwards. It is important to empower children for adopting healthy eating habits and habits of maintaining good oral hygiene from an early age.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 4674277The aim of the professional scientific meeting, the 12th Slovenian Paedodontic Days, and the published proceedings was to present the modern findings regarding the early detection and management of caries in children and adolescents to the professional public. Namely, caries remains the most common chronic disease in childhood. The modern understanding of this multifactorial disease, i.e. the carious process, is based on its dynamic nature, with the alternation of demineralisation and remineralisation forming the basis of a continuum of disease states, from subclinical subsurface enamel lesions to advanced cavitated dentinal lesions; the carious process is reversible if detected early enough. Early detection and management of caries is therefore crucial for effective caries control, so it is important to be familiar with modern research and professional findings in areas such as caries risk assessment, early detection of carious lesions, assessment of stages and activity of the carious process and its management with preventive, non-operative and dental tissue-preserving operative methods, which were the topics of this professional scientific meeting. In addition to the leading Slovenian experts in the field of nutrition, public health, dental diseases and paediatric and preventive dentistry, the areas mentioned were also presented by three eminent experts from abroad: Svante Twetman, Professor of Cariology at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of numerous guidelines for prevention and management of initial carious lesions, Annelore De Grauwe, a specialist of paediatric dentistry who is active in dental radiology in the OMFS - IMPATH research group in Leuven, and Jack Toumba, President of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry and Professor of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry at the University of Kuwait. Contemporary views on the oral microbiome in children, position on sugar intake in infants, children and adolescents, guidelines for intra- and extra-oral radiographic diagnostics in children, and updated, evidence-based guidelines for fluoride use in children and adolescents were presented. The importance of determining the situation in the field of oral health of children and adolescents with the help of questionnaires as well as with a standardized system for the detection and assessment of carious lesions was pointed out also by the presented results of research by Slovenian authors.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 301971712On the World Oral Health Day, the authors prepared an information leaflet, the purpose of which is to make the population aware of the importance of taking care of their oral health. By promoting oral health, we draw attention to the personal responsibility of each individual for their oral health and to what everyone can do for their oral health. With consistent oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist, we significantly reduce the likelihood of developing oral diseases, and thereby also strengthen overall health.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 31523587