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Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | May 2012A2 NEWS AD Antonio, Texas; and Portland, Ore. The NIDCR is part of the National Institutes of Health. A dental practice-based research net- work is an investigative union of practic- ing dentists and academic scientists. The network provides practitioners with an opportunity to propose or participate in research studies that address day-to-day issues in oral healthcare. The studies, conducted in participating dental offices with consenting patients, help to expand the profession’s evidence base and fur- ther refine care. Since launching the practice-based initiative in 2005, NIDCR had supported three regional networks, including one at the UAB School of Dentistry. Each had its own affiliated practitioners, clinical stud- ies, and administrative tasks indepen- dent of the others. “A national coordinating center stream- lines the network structure for greater financial and administrative efficiency,” said NIDCR Director Martha Somerman, DDS, PhD. “The national structure also should free those at the regional net- works to focus almost solely on research, so, it’s an excellent opportunity for every- one.” The initial seven-year Regional Dental PBRN grants proved extremely produc- tive, Somerman said. The networks en- rolled 1,719 practitioners in 43 states. In “ RESEARCH, page A1 “ HUMOR, page A1 severe dental fear, still go to the dentist regularly. To increase understanding of dental fear and its causes, scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg conducted two unique studies to investigate strategies people with dental fear use to cope with visiting the den- tist and receiving dental treatment. Five core strategies In one study, Jenny Bernson, LDS, and her col- leagues asked people suffering from dental fear to completeaquestionnaire,enablingtheresearchers to isolate five core strategies that dental patients used to overcome dental fear: • Self-efficacy, using one’s own internal resources. Example: “I tell myself to be strong enough to stand it, despite my fear.” • Self-distraction. Examples: “I count to myself, sing to myself or try to play mental games with myself to keep my mind off the treatment.” • Distancing. Example: “I think the pain sensa- tion feels like something else, such as numbness.” • Prayer. Example: “I pray that the treatment will soon be over.” • Optimism. Example: “I try to think of the fu- ture, about what everything will be like after the treatment.” In terms of which of the five are most effective, Bernson said, “The study has shown that patients who adopt an optimistic mind-set cope with den- taltreatmentsignificantlybetter,andtheyvisitthe dentist more regularly than patients who spend time in prayer, despair or catastrophizing.” The second study was based on interviews with patients suffering from dental fear. They said hu- mor was one of the most critical coping strategies. “Psychological barriers can be broken down by humor, both as a result of the patient and the den- tistcoming togethermoreasequals, andasa result of humor reducing stress, increasing well-being and creating a pleasant atmosphere,” Bernson said. The strategies that these two studies have identi- fied will form the basis of a questionnaire that may be possible to use in the future when treating pa- tients suffering from den- tal fear. The article, “Adaptive coping strategies among adults with dental fear: Further development of a new version of the Dental Coping Strategy Questionnaire,” has been published in the scientific jour- nal Acta Odontologica Scandinavica. The article “Making dental care possible — a mutual affair” has been published in the scientific journalEuropeanJournalofOral Science. Bernson is a doctoral student in behavioral and community dentist- ry at the Institute of Odontology, Sahlg- renska Academy, University of Gothenburg and at the Research Center, Public Dental Service, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden. (Source: Sahlgrenska Academy) Photo/By Sebastian Kaulitzki, www. dreamstime.com collaboration with the Dental PBRN aca- demic faculties and staff, the practitio- ners organized and conducted 51 research studies, generating 87 journal articles on topics ranging from preventive and re- storative dentistry to pain management and smoking cessation. “The regional research networks were built from scratch, and it took some time and effort to get them up and running ” See RESEARCH, page A3