Alexander is interested in the interaction of the dental profession with the rest of society from a professional and sociological perspective. As part of an International collaboration, he is examining the sociological relevance of portrayals of oral health with reality television. Oral health is closely related to how individuals are perceived in society and the social class that they occupy. Part of Alexander’s interest in this area is to develop the understanding of how dirt, disgust and oral health mesh together as a sociological phenomenon so as to increase understanding of how this impacts inequity.
Dental Professionalism and the Commericla Determinants of Oral Health
The dental profession is only recently established; in many parts of the world formal organisation and regulation of dentistry has only existed for around 100 years. Within this area, Alexander is interested in how the dental profession interacts internally, through power relations between different dental practitioner divisions, and also in its external relations with society. As part of this research interest, Alexander has examined codes of conduct in developing understanding of professional attitudes and behaviours. Within this, he has a particular interest in how the dental profession manages internal concerns relating to standards of conduct, health and performance.
A separate, but linked interest of Alexander’s, is digital professionalism in dentistry and how dental professionals utilise social media in their private and public lives. Increasingly, social media is blurring the boundaries between the professional and private conducts of those involved in the delivery of dentistry. How this is being managed from a regulatory perspective is of interest to Alexander.
Cosmetic Dentistry: Professional, Ethical and Legal Issues
One of Alexander’s main research interests is in examining the nature of cosmetic practice in dentistry and its relationship to professional practice. Most of the literature base on cosmetic dentistry makes its philosophical assumptions from cosmetic medicine and surgery. Alexander’s work in this area examines cosmetic dentistry from a socioethical perspective, developing understanding from a dental, rather than medical direction. Part of this work has looked at differing legal approaches to teeth whitening. Alongside examination of cosmetic dentistry, Alexander has been researching the interaction between commercialism and dentistry.
