The National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Greater Manchester works with health and social care providers across Greater Manchester. NIHR CRN Greater Manchester helps to provide the infrastructure to allow robust research to happen. Oral and dental care is one of the specialities that is supported by NIHR CRN Greater Manchester. If you work as part of a dental team, NIHR CRN Greater Manchester can provide training and resources to help you get involved in research across a number of settings.
Working with local care organisations in all our communities across Greater Manchester, oral and dental research for Greater Manchester has a broad focus on priority research questions important to a range of stakeholders. NIHR CRN Greater Manchester works with researchers to set up and deliver commercial and non-commercially funded studies across a range of NHS, public health, and social care settings.
Previous and ongoing research areas of focus include:
- delivery of dental care by different members of the dental workforce
- optimising health service delivery and referral pathways
- interventions to prevent occurrence and re-occurrence of childhood dental decay and dental extractions under general anaesthesia
- evaluation of interventions to prevent, diagnose, and treat dental decay across a variety of settings
- studies to improve the oral health and restore function to older people
Considerations of health equity and inclusivity are key guiding principles of the NIHR’s clinical research.
NIHR CRN Greater Manchester also works to identify potential research sites in hospital, primary care, community and residential care settings.
How can I get involved in research?
There are many different types of research studies that are undertaken in dental settings and therefore many ways that you can get involved in research. NIHR CRN Greater Manchester’s goal is to make involvement in research as open and as inclusive as possible.
1. Being a stakeholder in research
For research to run effectively, NIHR CRN Greater Manchester needs information from practitioners and other stakeholders. At present, the majority of oral and dental care happens in general dental practices. It is important that NIHR CRN Greater Manchester can do research in dental practices so they can see what treatments work in different patient groups. Seeing how new treatments and technologies perform in ‘real world’ settings helps them to understand their potential impact.
2. Being a research participant
Some research is focused on how health services are delivered. By answering surveys and questionnaires about current working practices, or by being involved in interviews about your own experiences, you can help researchers to explain why certain ways of working may be more successful than others. Research may also evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments, techniques or technologies.
3. Facilitating research
Dental teams have access to a wide network of patients with diverse backgrounds and needs. Dental teams are unique in that they will see these patients frequently and often before they develop symptoms. As a research facilitator, you might help to advertise and recruit patients for studies across a range of health and social care settings.
4. Being an investigator in a study
There are many studies taking place in general dental practices, community dental services and secondary dental care. If you wish to become involved in a study where you treat patients, you and your team need to complete an NIHR Good Clinical Practice (GCP) course. The study team (usually a university) can help to ensure you are fully trained. The time spent training, and conducting administrative work is reimbursed.
5. Being an academic trainee
Clinical academia is a richly rewarding career that allows clinicians to conduct and be involved in research. Oral and dental care needs a supply of clinical academics from dental specialities to help design and run research and to act as future leaders of oral and dental research. Formal clinical academic training can be approached at all stages of a career in dentistry.
If you would like further information about clinical research in dentistry, contact NIHR CRN Greater Manchester by emailing: researchsupport.crngm@nihr.ac.uk
