The research, carried out by Enventure Research on behalf of the General Dental Council (GDC), found that 37 per cent of dental professionals are optimistic about the future of dentistry, an increase of two per cent from the previous year. Less than a third of dental professionals were pessimistic about the future of dentistry (31 per cent compared to 33 per cent last year).
The annual registrant survey was sent to a representative sample of dentists and dental care professionals (DCPs) across the UK in late 2013. The survey also included five focus groups across the UK and 24 in-depth interviews.
Confidence in regulation
The survey also found that confidence in the GDC as a regulator remains high. More than two thirds (67 per cent) of the dental professionals who took part in the survey are confident that the GDC is regulating dentistry effectively; (26 per cent were not).
Some dental professionals have higher levels of confidence in the GDC than others, with 81 per cent of dental hygienists confident in the GDC's effectiveness, compared to 57 per cent of dental technicians.
The survey found that confidence was associated with length of time on the register, with recently registered dental professionals much more likely to be confident than those who have been on the register for longer.
Raising a concern
Nearly half of dental professionals (46 per cent) said that they had come across an issue that they felt should have been raised as a concern. The vast majority of dental professionals (88 per cent) said that they knew where to raise a concern.
Dental professionals are more likely to have raised a concern to someone in their workplace (39 per cent) than to the GDC (five per cent).
Providing an explanation when something has gone wrong
The vast majority (87 per cent) of respondents felt that a dental professional was likely to provide an explanation to a patient when something had gone wrong in their care or treatment.
A similar question was asked in the GDC's 2013 patient and public survey; fewer patients than dental professionals thought that an explanation was very likely (19 per cent of patients compared with 39 per cent of dental professionals).
The 2013 Annual Survey of Registrants is available to read in full on the GDC website.
A set of infographics, illustrating some of the key findings from the survey, is also available on the GDC website.