Research in the Department of Dental Management Sciences

Research conducted in the Department is aimed at stimulating, informing and educating the dental profession by means of appropriate and relevant research in view of the SA market’s unique and specific needs in terms of practice management. As a result, the Department’s research outputs focus on the following:

• practice management strategies in a competitive SA dental environment
• strategies to enhance excellence, uniqueness, differentiation and competitiveness of a typical SA dental practice
• the role of communication in addressing the challenges of increasing consumerism in the 21st century in the health and dental industry
• managed dental care: implications for the dental practitioner in SA as well as practitioners’ willingness to accept a capitation fee for dental services
• the dramatic decline in the value of the Rand and the impact on the costs of materials and profitability of a SA dental practice
• the decline in medical funds’ payout towards dentistry and the impact on dentistry in SA: strategies to convert a practice from a practice dependent on dental insurance to a practice independent of dental insurance
• the role of service quality in the promotion of a dental practice
• the important role of the oral hygienist in the productivity of a SA dental practice.
• interacting forces influencing private dental practice in South Africa: implications for dental education
• development, implementation and evaluation of a curriculum for teaching relational communication skills in dentistry.

• Expert List
• Research Focus Areas
• Research and Publication Outputs
• Postgraduate Students