Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2022 March, 256(3)

Medical-Dental Collaboration and Interprofessional Training for Maxillofacial Diseases at Tohoku University Hospital

Shigeto Koyama,¹ Kuniyuki Izumita,² Naoko Sato,¹ Ryo Tagaino,¹ Takanori Hatakeyama,¹ Naru Shiraishi,³ Nobuhiro Yoda,³ Kaoru Igarashi,⁴ Tetsu Takahashi⁵ and Keiichi Sasaki³

¹Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
²Perioperative Oral Health Management, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
³Division of Advanced Prosthetic Dentistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁴Division of Craniofacial Anomalies, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁵Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

The Tohoku University Hospital has been a clinical and research facility for all the related departments of Tohoku University. Medical-dental and interprofessional collaboration has resulted in special treatment teams, made up of members of departments such as the center for head and neck cancer, the center for dysphagia, and the cleft lip and palate center. Those treatment teams held conferences, case study meetings, reading sessions, and in-hospital seminars. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of various medical-dental and the interprofessional collaboration at Tohoku University Hospital and training program to equip hospital dentists in higher medical institutions. The attainment targets are the acquisition of basic medical skills and knowledge under the guidance of supervising doctors. As a result, the hospital dentists could acquire their own specialized knowledge and skills certificated by each academic society. The smooth team treatment has been achieved, and the number of cases discussed by cancer boards and center for dysphagia has increased year by year due to the efficiency of their clinical pathways. On the dental care side as well, the wearing rates of maxillofacial prosthetic devices such as maxillofacial prostheses and palatal augmentation prostheses (PAP) have improved, which have contributed to improving patient’s stomatognathic function. Tohoku University Hospital has been practicing collaboration between medical and dental professionals and it has produced mutual benefits. Our interprofessional training system based on the medical-dental collaboration could develop professionals who have acquired cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills from experienced doctors.

Keywords —— cancer board; interprofessional collaboration; interprofessional training; maxillofacial diseases; medicaldental collaboration.

© 2022 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med 2022, 256, 225-234.

Correspondence: Shigeto Koyama, D.D.S., Ph.D., Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic, Tohoku University Hospital, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan.

e-mail: shigeto.koyama.d5@tohoku.ac.jp