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Oral health is recognised as a fundamental contributor to general health. In many developing countries resources are scarce and access to oral healthcare is often limited, particularly in rural areas. An approach to solving the problem of providing oral healthcare in developing nations is the Basic Package of Oral Care (BPOC), which promotes the community-oriented promotion of oral health and affordable and effective interventions. The aim of this paper is to focus on one component of the BPOC, by presenting a model for the provision of a local training programme of oral urgent treatment (OUT), delivered by volunteers, in a region of North West Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate priority setting and decision-making in primary care organisations and to determine how resources are managed in order to meet the oral health needs of local populations.Method This is a qualitative study. The purposive sample comprised twelve dental public health consultants and six senior finance representatives from contrasting care systems across the United Kingdom. Participants completed a written information sheet followed by a recorded semi-structured telephone interview. Conversations were professionally transcribed verbatim and analysed independently by two investigators using the constant comparative method.Results The emergent themes focused upon: the role of participants in decision-making; professional relationships; managing change; information needs; and identifying and managing priorities. There was wide interpretation with respect to participants' roles and perceived information needs for decision-making and commissioning. A unifying factor was the importance placed by participants upon trust and the influence of individuals on the success of relationships forged between primary care organisations and general dental practitioners.Conclusion To facilitate decision-making in primary care organisations, commissioners and managers could engage further with practitioners and incorporate them into commissioning and resource allocation processes. Greater clarity is required regarding the role of dental public health consultants within primary care organisations and commissioning decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate priority setting and decision-making in primary care organisations and to determine how resources are managed in order to meet the oral health needs of local populations.Method This is a qualitative study. The purposive sample comprised twelve dental public health consultants and six senior finance representatives from contrasting care systems across the United Kingdom. Participants completed a written information sheet followed by a recorded semi-structured telephone interview. Conversations were professionally transcribed verbatim and analysed independently by two investigators using the constant comparative method.Results The emergent themes focused upon: the role of participants in decision-making; professional relationships; managing change; information needs; and identifying and managing priorities. There was wide interpretation with respect to participants' roles and perceived information needs for decision-making and commissioning. A unifying factor was the importance placed by participants upon trust and the influence of individuals on the success of relationships forged between primary care organisations and general dental practitioners.Conclusion To facilitate decision-making in primary care organisations, commissioners and managers could engage further with practitioners and incorporate them into commissioning and resource allocation processes. Greater clarity is required regarding the role of dental public health consultants within primary care organisations and commissioning decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]