Involvement of general dental practitioners in epidemiologic data collection: insights from the Belgian Oral Health Dental Registration and Evaluation Survey.

OBJECTIVE: In 2023-2024, a national cross-sectional survey of the oral health of the Belgian population aged 5 years and older was conducted involving general dental practitioners. The objective of the present study was to critically reflect on the involvement of general dental practitioners in epidemiological oral health data collection. METHOD AND MATERIALS: The Oral Health Data Registration and Evaluation Survey (OHDRES) 2023-2024 combines data from face-to-face interviews conducted within the national Health Interview Survey, oral health examinations, and selected health care utilization data from the Belgian Inter-Mutuality Agency registers. To standardize the oral health examination, an illustrated clinical guideline was developed. General dental practitioners collected oral health data after online training and calibration. Only dentists achieving ≥ 75% agreement with the benchmark were authorized to perform the oral examinations. Both participants and general dental practitioners received financial incentives to promote participation. RESULTS: A total of 614 general dental practitioners were involved in data collection and performed 1,724 oral examinations. Completion of the training module took an average time of 50 min (± 5 min 58 s). The average time spent on calibration was 23 min 44 s (± 21 min 4 s). Most general dental practitioners succeeded in calibration on the first (81.6%) or second attempt (12.5%), while 5.2% needed three or four attempts. CONCLUSION: Involvement of general dental practitioners in oral health data collection is feasible yet challenging, requiring an investment of time, training and calibration, as well as the use of motivational incentives.