Mentoring. A quality assurance tool for dentists. Part 1: the need for mentoring in dental practice.

This paper introduces the concept of mentoring and its use in dental practice. It explains how there has been a drive for quality in all areas of healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK), and that clinical audit and clinical governance are two of the quality assurance tools that have been developed. It suggests that the most important factor in the provision of quality care is the dentist and that it is therefore essential that dentists are given support and encouragement by their peers, together with recognition of good performance. The next section of the paper considers factors that hinder a dentist's quality of performance. It explains that there are multiple stresses in dental practice and, if they are not managed and controlled, that they can lead to professional burnout, anxiety and depression. One of the most important stressors that can impact on the quality of patient care is the constraint of time, which can frequently result from pressure from third parties such as managers and administrators. Dentists often feel isolated. The final section of the paper describes how dentists may be supported. Techniques include developing special interests within oral healthcare, career development, good human resource management, peer review and study groups, and coaching and mentoring. The nature of these last two techniques is discussed and the authors conclude that the best tool for supporting the quality of performance of dentists is mentoring.