How safe is skill mix in dentistry?

The subject of skill mix is not new within the dental environment. For some time, questions have been asked about whether team members’ capabilities can be better utilised in order to streamline daily workflows and deliver better care to more patients. The events of 2020/21 once again brought these issues to the fore, as dental professionals across the country were redeployed to support various other essential services. Many were able to transfer the skills and experience they had gained in dentistry to other medical, scientific or communication roles, demonstrating how valuable skill mix could be.

When it comes to permanent and long-term changes in protocols and attitudes, it is important that the new way of doing things is truly better that the traditional. In dentistry, we are very focused on evidence-based procedures, and rightly so. So, can we learn from the transfer of skills due to the Covid-19 pandemic and apply those lessons to dentistry moving forward?