Finnish dentists' experiences with foreign-background patients-a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: The population in many countries is becoming more diverse. The number of people from foreign backgrounds is growing in Finland as well. The aim of this study was to better understand how the foreign background of a patient affects the dentist's work. METHODS: The research was carried out as a semi-structured interview. Six dentists from Helsinki municipality public dental care were interviewed between December 2019 and January 2020. After the interviews were transcribed verbatim, two members of the research group read individually the interviews to find emerging themes. RESULTS: The most common problems that arose in the interviews were problems within communication and interpretation. Periodontal diseases and the importance of self-care in treating them were observed to be unfamiliar to many foreign-background patients. The dentists also noticed different expressions of pain among foreign-background patients compared with native Finnish patients. The interviewed dentists thought that the length of time a patient had lived in Finland affected the experienced difficulties and the prejudice that the patients and dentists faced. CONCLUSION: In this qualitative research, we were able to identify some of the common difficulties that the dentists experience while treating patients from foreign backgrounds, despite the small number of participants.

The reproduction of gender differences in early career choices and professional identity of young dentist in Finland.

INTRODUCTION: For over the last 20 years, approximately 70% of working dentists in Finland have been women. However, there is internal division of the profession along gender lines. Female dentists work more often in the public sector and male dentists in the private sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences in young dentists' early career choices, specialization plans, values and perceptions of professional identity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were taken from a national e-mail questionnaire study called "Young Dentist," which was sent to 458 dentists who had received their licence to practise dentistry in 2014-2016 from all four universities with dental curricula in Finland. A total of 52% young dentists (n = 238) answered the questionnaire. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results indicated that whereas female dentists were more likely to perceive themselves as comforters, social workers and health promoters, male dentists tended to perceive themselves as technicians. These professional identities were interrelated with early-stage career choices in which female dentists worked more often in the public than in the private sector when compared to male dentists. There were also clear gender differences in the importance of values and the specialization plans of the young dentists. CONCLUSION: Young dentists in Finland make career choices and develop professional identity in accordance with the attributes traditionally associated with cultural ideals related to femininity and masculinity.