UCSF

Background

With many states in the United States permitting dentists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, there is much discussion about their scope of practice in relation to delivering other vaccines.

Methods

Survey questions were developed to assess dentists' awareness about their vaccine administration scope of practice and attitudes and barriers if choosing to incorporate vaccine delivery into their practice scope. The survey was deployed electronically to members of the American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators (ACE) Panel (N = 989) on September 2, 2021, and remained open for 2 weeks. Data were summarized descriptively in Qualtrics and SAS Version 9.4.

Results

Of the 330 ACE Panel members who responded to the survey, 42% were not aware of which vaccines their state permits them to deliver. More than one-half (55%) would be willing to administer influenza or COVID-19 vaccines in their practice setting, but at present only 2% of respondents administer vaccines. To overcome vaccine administration barriers, the top 3 resources respondents want access to are the following: training or education, financial support, and access to protocols. Of all the respondents, 91% indicated the dental hygienist should be involved in certain capacities.

Conclusions

Few dentists are administering vaccines, possibly owing to a number of challenges. Dental hygienists may play an integral role in the administration of vaccines in the dental clinic, but few dentists are educating their patients about vaccines.

Practical implications

Although dentists wishing to administer vaccines in their practice may encounter barriers, support at the state, federal, and organizational levels could help them overcome these challenges.