An analysis of present dental professions in Sweden

Dentistry in Sweden is predicted to have a shortage of dentists in the future and the division of labour within dentistry will be a more debated question. In order to forecast the effects of such a shortage the professional status of the involved groups must be made clearer. The objective of this paper is to analyse the emergence and present professional status of clinical dental professions in Sweden. The study was conducted on the basis of theories on professions, and their roles in organizations was analysed.The results were applied on the historical emergence, establishment and consolidation of clinical dental professions in Sweden. The results show that a large sector of salaried dentists has not diminished the professional status of the Swedish dentists. Professional ambitions such as many clinical subspecialties and a strong element of research have not been restrained by the public health ambitions in the Public Dental Health Service (PDHS). Presently, other dental professions are dental hygienists, dental technicians and dental nurses. Of these the only other licensed group, the dental hygienists, are an emerging profession.They have an uphill struggle to obtain a full professional status, mainly because their knowledge domains are neither specific nor exclusive to their group. Development of a common core curriculum on a clearly academic level would enhance their professional status. Dental technicians and nurses are lacking fundamental traits as professions. There appears to be little need for additional groups of clinical professions besides dentists and dental hygienists in Swedish dentistry. In conclusion,this analysis provided better understanding of the present status of the Swedish dental professions, to prepare for future restructuring of the dental care system. Further work will be needed to understand the impact of professional traits on the management of groups of professionals