TY - JOUR
T1 - Dentist-administered vaccines
T2 - An American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators Panel survey
AU - Council on Scientific Affairs
AU - Duong, Mai L.Y.
AU - Villa, Alessandro
AU - Patton, Lauren
AU - Frazier, Kevin
AU - Khajotia, Sharukh
AU - Kumar, Purnima
AU - Urquhart, Olivia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Dental Association
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Background: With many states in the United States permitting dentists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, there is much discussion about their scope of practice in relation to delivering other vaccines. Methods: Survey questions were developed to assess dentists’ awareness about their vaccine administration scope of practice and attitudes and barriers if choosing to incorporate vaccine delivery into their practice scope. The survey was deployed electronically to members of the American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators (ACE) Panel (N = 989) on September 2, 2021, and remained open for 2 weeks. Data were summarized descriptively in Qualtrics and SAS Version 9.4. Results: Of the 330 ACE Panel members who responded to the survey, 42% were not aware of which vaccines their state permits them to deliver. More than one-half (55%) would be willing to administer influenza or COVID-19 vaccines in their practice setting, but at present only 2% of respondents administer vaccines. To overcome vaccine administration barriers, the top 3 resources respondents want access to are the following: training or education, financial support, and access to protocols. Of all the respondents, 91% indicated the dental hygienist should be involved in certain capacities. Conclusions: Few dentists are administering vaccines, possibly owing to a number of challenges. Dental hygienists may play an integral role in the administration of vaccines in the dental clinic, but few dentists are educating their patients about vaccines. Practical Implications: Although dentists wishing to administer vaccines in their practice may encounter barriers, support at the state, federal, and organizational levels could help them overcome these challenges.
AB - Background: With many states in the United States permitting dentists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, there is much discussion about their scope of practice in relation to delivering other vaccines. Methods: Survey questions were developed to assess dentists’ awareness about their vaccine administration scope of practice and attitudes and barriers if choosing to incorporate vaccine delivery into their practice scope. The survey was deployed electronically to members of the American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators (ACE) Panel (N = 989) on September 2, 2021, and remained open for 2 weeks. Data were summarized descriptively in Qualtrics and SAS Version 9.4. Results: Of the 330 ACE Panel members who responded to the survey, 42% were not aware of which vaccines their state permits them to deliver. More than one-half (55%) would be willing to administer influenza or COVID-19 vaccines in their practice setting, but at present only 2% of respondents administer vaccines. To overcome vaccine administration barriers, the top 3 resources respondents want access to are the following: training or education, financial support, and access to protocols. Of all the respondents, 91% indicated the dental hygienist should be involved in certain capacities. Conclusions: Few dentists are administering vaccines, possibly owing to a number of challenges. Dental hygienists may play an integral role in the administration of vaccines in the dental clinic, but few dentists are educating their patients about vaccines. Practical Implications: Although dentists wishing to administer vaccines in their practice may encounter barriers, support at the state, federal, and organizational levels could help them overcome these challenges.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.10.012
DO - 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.10.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 34996534
AN - SCOPUS:85121734109
SN - 0002-8177
VL - 153
SP - 86-87.e2
JO - Journal of the American Dental Association
JF - Journal of the American Dental Association
IS - 1
ER -