Crisis económica y Odontología en España. Propuesta de soluciones por grupo nominal de dentistas

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In a context of more than two decades of spectacular growth in the number of dentists in Spain, it is added pressure that the current economic crisis has on a profession that is predominantly private. The aim of this study is to propose solutions to the impact of economic crisis in the dental profession. METHODS: Nominal Group Technique was conducted in Granada city in March 2011. Experts (n = 9) were dentists covering a broad social and professional. The question was "What measures do you think should be taken to the negative influence of the economic crisis in dentistry?" Clarifying that a possible answer was to consider that there was no such influence. The phases were: 1. Generation of ideas by experts, 2. Their statement and explanation, 3. Discussion and fusion of ideas by consensus, 4. Secret votation by prioritization among the ten resulting ideas. RESULTS: The five most voted ideas, orderly, were 1.Reducing the number of new graduates in Spain, 2. Oral health awareness in the population as it would improve the demand, 3. Legal and labor support for new graduates to be considered the hardest hit group, 4. More efficient public dental programs, and 5. Developing adequate quality standards of the dental specialities and postgraduate training with affordable prices. CONCLUSIONS: There is unanimity to identify the economic crisis as a negative element about the profession and the need to take action.