bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A New Curriculum Framework for Clinical Prevention and Population Health, with a Review of Clinical Caries Prevention Teaching in U.S. and Canadian Dental Schools
Authors: Brown John P.
Published: June 2020

To fulfill the Healthy People 2010 Objective 1.7, “Increase the proportion of … health professional training schools whose basic curriculum for health care providers includes the core competencies in health promotion and disease prevention,” the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force has developed a curriculum framework for clinical prevention and population health for all the health professions. This framework has four components: 1) evidence base for practice; 2) clinical preventive services, including health promotion; 3) health systems and health policy; and 4) community aspects of practice. Within these four common components are nineteen domains, for which each health profession is identifying its own educational objectives. An inventory of knowledge and skills is being developed. A prerequisite to promoting change in the teaching of dental prevention and population oral health is to better understand the current status. Sixty‐six of sixty‐eight U.S. and Canadian dental schools provided input on the teaching of one important aspect of this wider topic—dental caries prevention—before a December 2002 Clinical Preventive Dentistry Leadership Conference in Cincinnati, OH. In clinical teaching, 68 percent of dental schools included caries risk assessment and also reevaluated preventive outcomes, but while 65 percent included remineralization procedures, only 38 percent specifically reevaluated this outcome. Faculty members have commonalities in attitudes about the advantages and problems in improving teaching in clinical prevention, yet dental schools act individually in curricular design and implementation. The conference introduced a method of conceptualizing change, so that dental schools might address organizational barriers in clinical curriculum development. Even with the new common curriculum framework, other barriers to improved dental prevention and population oral health exist: these include organizational change in dental schools, dental practices, and dental clinics; reimbursement issues and incentives; and lack of accepted and explicit standards in dental care.
Beyond Access: The Role of Family and Community in Children's Oral Health
Authors: Mouradian Wendy E. , Huebner Colleen E. , Ramos‐Gomez Francisco , Slavkin Harold C.
Published: June 2020

Children's health outcomes result from the complex interaction of biological determinants with sociocultural, family, and community variables. Dental professionals’ efforts to reduce oral health disparities often focus on improving access to dental care. However, this strategy alone cannot eliminate health disparities. Rising rates of early childhood caries create an urgent need to study family and community factors in oral health. Using Los Angeles as a multicultural laboratory for understanding health disparities, the Santa Fe Group convened an experiential conference to consider models of ensuring child and family health within communities. This article summarizes key conference themes and insights regarding 1) children's needs and societal priorities; 2) the science of child health determinants; 3) the rapidly changing demographics of the United States; and 4) the importance of communities that support children and families. Conference participants concluded that to eliminate children's oral health disparities we must change paradigms to promote health, integrate oral health into other health and social programs, and empower communities. Oral health advocates have a key role in ensuring oral health is integrated into policy for children. Dental schools have a leadership role to play in expanding community partnerships and providing education in health determinants. Participants recommended replicating this experiential conference in other venues.
Effect of School Environment on Dental Students’ Perceptions of Cultural Competency Curricula and Preparedness to Care for Diverse Populations
Authors: Hewlett Edmond R. , Davidson Pamela L. , Nakazono Terry T. , Baumeister Sebastian E. , Carreon Daisy C. , Freed James R.
Published: June 2020

Reports of oral health disparities among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic sectors of the U.S. population have hastened development of strategies to address this issue. Among these strategies is revising dental school curricula in order to develop more culturally competent graduates. The present study uses data from the 2003 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) survey of dental school seniors to assess students’ perceptions of the adequacy of their cultural competency training. We hypothesize that these perceptions are influenced by multiple student characteristics and contextual factors, including a school's status with respect to the Pipeline, Professions, and Practice initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment. Response data from ADEA survey items reflecting student perceptions of adequacy of curriculum time devoted to cultural competency and their preparedness to treat an ethnically and culturally diverse population were analyzed to assess the influence of selected student and contextual factors. Student gender, marital status, and level of educational debt were found to influence the curriculum time variable, and students at California schools reported higher perceived preparedness levels than students at dental schools nationwide. Dental school environments promoting acceptance and respect of diverse ethnicities/cultures and student race/ethnicity were significantly associated with students’ perception of the adequacy of curriculum time for cultural competency and students’ perception of their preparedness to provide oral health care for racially and culturally diverse groups. The findings provide insight for development of cultural competency curricula and direction for future study in this area.
Do Tutor Expertise and Experience Influence Student Performance in a Problem‐Based Curriculum?
Authors: Park Sang E. , Susarla Srinivas M. , Cox Cheri K. , Da Silva John , Howell T.H.
Published: June 2020

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between student performance and tutor expertise and experience in the Restorative Treatment course in a problem‐based learning (PBL) dental curriculum. This retrospective study evaluated a cohort of 206 third‐year dental students at Harvard School of Dental Medicine who were enrolled in the Restorative Treatment course between 2000 and 2005. Tutor expertise in prosthodontics and prior tutoring experience were measured against student performance in five areas: 1) tutorial session, 2) midterm examination, 3) final examination, 4) preclinical laboratory, and 5) overall cumulative course grade. Student performance in each of the five areas measured against combinations of tutor subject matter expertise and tutoring experience level showed no statistically significant difference between the groups in the overall course grade. However, student performance in the expert group showed a significant difference in the final examination compared to the nonexpert group (p<0.05). Also, students in the group consisting of expert tutors with no experience performed better on the final examination compared to those students who had expert tutors with experience (p<0.05). The results indicate that overall student performance in the problem‐based Restorative Treatment course is not affected by tutor expertise or prior tutoring experience.
Infection Control Procedures in Commercial Dental Laboratories in Jordan
Authors: Al‐Dwairi Ziad Nawaf
Published: June 2020

The risk of cross‐infection in dental clinics and laboratories has attracted the attention of practitioners for the past few years, yet several medical centers have discarded compliance with infection control guidelines, resulting in a non‐safe environment for research and medical care. In Jordan, there is lack of known standard infection control programs that are conducted by the Jordanian Dental Technology Association and routinely practiced in commercial dental laboratories. The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge and practices in infection control among dental technicians working in commercial dental laboratories in Jordan. Data were collected from the dental technicians by a mailed questionnaire developed by the author. The questionnaire asked respondents to provide demographic data about age and gender and to answer questions about their knowledge and practice of infection control measures: use of gloves, use of protective eyeglasses and face shields, hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination, laboratory work disinfection when sent to or received from dental offices. and regularly changing pot water or pumice slurry. Of the total respondents, 135 were males (67.5 percent) and sixty‐five were females (32.5 percent) with a mean age of twenty‐seven years. The results showed that 24 percent of laboratory technicians wore gloves when receiving dental impressions, while 16 percent continued to wear them while working. Eyeglasses and protective face shields were regularly worn by 35 percent (70/200) and 40 percent (80/200) of technicians, respectively. Fourteen (14 percent) had received an HBV vaccination, and 17 percent inquired if any disinfection measures were taken in the clinic. Eighty‐six percent of the technicians reported that pumice slurry and curing bath water were rarely changed. Only five dental technicians (two males and three females) were considered to be fully compliant with the inventory of infection control measures, a compliance rate of 2.5 percent with no significant difference between males and females (p>0.05). In conclusion, there is lack of compliance with infection control procedures of dental technicians working in commercial laboratories in Jordan.
Attitudes of South African Dental Therapy Students Toward Compulsory Community Service
Authors: Bhayat Ahmed , Yengopal Veerasmay , Rudolph Michael J. , Govender Urvashnee
Published: June 2020

Compulsory community service (CCS) was introduced into the health service by the South African government to address the shortage and maldistribution of health professionals within the public sector. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of dental therapy students regarding CCS. A self‐administered questionnaire was delivered to the two dental schools that train dental therapists in South Africa. There was a 64 percent response rate; 56 percent of the respondents were female. The average age was 20.3 years. There was no difference in the variables between the two dental schools, so the results were combined. The majority (81 percent) supported the introduction of CCS and preferred to carry it out in Kwa‐Zulu Natal. Most students opted to perform oral health promotional (64 percent) and clinical (15 percent) activities. By aligning these requirements with the current dental needs and priority strategies of the South African Department of Health, this support would add much value to the delivery of oral health services.
Assessing Caries Removal by Undergraduate Dental Students Using Quantitative Light‐Induced Fluorescence
Authors: Adeyemi Adejumoke A. , Jarad Fadi D. , Komarov Gleb N. , Pender Neil , Higham Susan M.
Published: June 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare detection of enamel and dentinal caries by dental students’ and faculty members’ visual inspection and by quantitative light‐induced fluorescence (QLF). The overall aim was to determine whether QLF is an appropriate technique for use in clinical skills laboratories as a teaching aid for dental undergraduates to detect and assess the removal of enamel and dentinal caries. Sixty students who had no clinical experience with dental caries were asked to select . suitably decayed teeth and mount them in plaster. After recording baseline QLF images, students removed caries according to instructions given by the clinical tutor. On completion of the exercise, the teeth were visually determined to be caries‐free by the student, then confirmed by the clinical tutor. A fluorescein in alcohol solution was injected into the cavity for two minutes, rinsed, and dried before QLF images were captured. The images were visually analyzed by two examiners for the presence or absence of caries. From seventy‐four images recorded, seventeen were excluded due to exposure of the pulp chamber. The remaining fifty‐seven teeth, which by clinical visual examination were judged to be caries‐free, were examined using QLF. Fifty‐three percent were found to be caries‐free, while 47 percent were carious. In this sample of fifty‐seven teeth judged to be caries‐free by both dental students and faculty members, QLF thus detected caries in almost half of these teeth. These findings suggest that QLF is a useful, noninvasive, nondestructive technique for the detection of caries and can serve as an adjunct to chair‐side diagnosis and management of dental caries, which is typically accomplished by visual inspection. QLF may be useful and appropriate as an objective clinical teaching aid for the assessment of dental caries.
Associations Among Predental Credentials and Measures of Dental School Achievement
Authors: Holmes David C. , Doering John V. , Spector Michael
Published: June 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations among several dental school admission criteria and several measures of dental school achievement. Data were collected for 2000–07 University of Iowa dentistry graduates, including five specific preadmission credentials and five specific measures of dental school achievement for each student. Pearson product moment correlations or Mann‐Whitney U statistics were computed for the association of each of the ten variables with the nine others. The strongest correlation observed was between predental science grade point average (GPA) and overall predental GPA. Dental Admission Test (DAT) Academic Average was very strongly correlated with DAT Total Science, and both of these were each moderately correlated with DAT Perceptual Ability, predental science GPA, and overall predental GPA. Among the measures of dental school achievement, the strongest association was observed between National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) scores and dental school GPA. These were also moderately correlated with final clinical grade. All of the measures of dental school achievement were slightly stronger for candidates who passed the Central Regional Dental Testing Service (CRDTS) examination than for those who failed that exam. Of the predental credentials considered, predental science GPA and overall predental GPA were the best predictors of dental school GPA. DAT Academic Average was the best predictor of NBDE scores. Although DAT Perceptual Ability was the best predictor of clinical competency at the time of graduation, these two variables were only weakly correlated. DAT Perceptual Ability scores and overall predental GPA were slightly higher for candidates who passed the CRDTS examination than for those who failed that exam.
Dental Students’ Self‐Assessment of Preclinical Examinations
Authors: Curtis Donald A. , Lind Samuel L. , Dellinges Mark , Setia Gaurav , Finzen Frederick C.
Published: June 2020

Accurate self‐assessment is an important attribute for practicing dentists and, therefore, an important skill to develop in dental students. Our purpose was to examine the relationship between faculty and student assessments of preclinical prosthodontic procedures. Seventy‐six second‐year students completed two consecutive examinations and two self‐assessments. The examinations involved setting maxillary denture teeth on a model to simulate the clinical procedure of a complete maxillary denture. Results indicated no significant increases in examination or student self‐assessment mean scores; however, regression analysis indicated changes in student self‐assessment scores explained 16.3 percent of the variation in examination scores. In essence, improvement in student self‐assessment predicted improvement in examination scores among dental students completing a preclinical dental procedure.
Engineering Curriculum Change at a Private Midwest School of Dental Medicine: A Faculty Innovation
Authors: Pyle Marsha A. , Goldberg Jerold S.
Published: June 2020

The national dental educational environment has been sensitized to the changing needs of the profession and students, resulting in an agenda for curriculum change in a number of dental schools. This report discusses the impetus for change at a private Midwestern school that has begun a multiyear implementation of an innovative curriculum. The process by which the innovations have been instituted, while unique to this school, may provide insights for change at other dental schools.
Advanced General Dentistry Program Directors’ Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Pediatric Dental Training for Residents
Authors: Massey Christi Sporl , Raybould Ted P. , Skelton Judith , Wrightson A. Stevens , Smith Tim A.
Published: June 2020

The oral health of children became a more prominent concern with the U.S. surgeon general's report on oral health in America in 2000. The purpose of our study was 1) to assess General Practice Residency (GPR) and Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) (here jointly referred to as advanced general dentistry [AGD] programs) directors’ current behaviors with regard to pediatric training of residents and 2) to assess their attitudes about which components of pediatric oral health training should be included in AGD programs. A twenty‐one item survey was mailed to all GPR and AEGD programs accessed through the American Dental Association website. Seventy percent of directors (N=187) completed and returned the survey. Responses indicated that AGD residents receive adequate clinical exposure to pediatric patients and provide much‐needed services to uninsured, underinsured, and underserved people. Although clinical training in pediatric treatment was high, didactic hours focused on pediatric treatment did not seem commensurate with clinical activity. Program directors indicated strong attitudinal support for teaching residents many components of pediatric oral health care, although most directors have concerns over increasing didactic hours spent on pediatric oral health due to already crowded curricula. Approximately 88 percent of directors said that they would implement a pediatric oral health module in their curricula if they had access to one.
The Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program: A Pilot Program to Introduce Dental Students to Academia
Authors: Rogér James M.
Published: June 2020

The Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program (ADCFP) was established in 2006 by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) with the financial support of the ADA Foundation to encourage dental students to consider careers in dental education and to provide participating fellows with insights into academic life. The ADA Foundation provided funding during the 2006–07 academic year for eleven dental student fellows, who were paired with faculty mentors at their respective schools. Fellows and mentors attended a two‐day retreat in the summer of 2006, and over the course of the subsequent year in dental school, the fellows with guidance from their mentors participated in preclinical laboratory, classroom, small‐group, and clinical teaching experiences; designed and implemented a research project; developed a philosophy of education; completed career reflection essays; assembled a portfolio to represent their ADCFP activities and projects; conducted a series of interviews with faculty designed to expose students to roles, issues, and career paths in academic dentistry; and presented a synopsis of their experiences at the ADEA Annual Session in New Orleans in March 2007. The fellows and mentors completed midyear and end‐of‐year evaluations of the ADCFP in which feedback and recommendations were collected by telephone interviews and questionnaires. Fellows reported positive experiences and an increased interest in and understanding of academic careers. Mentors also evaluated the ADCFP positively and reported enhancements in their mentoring skills. This article describes the goals and format of the ADCFP, summarizes program evaluation data elicited from the fellows and mentors, and proposes recommendations for future fellowship classes.
Parental Involvement in Recruitment of Underrepresented Minority Students
Authors: Wadenya Rose O. , Lopez Naty
Published: June 2020

Recruitment of underrepresented minority (URM) students to dental schools has had limited success, so dental schools need to reach out to high school students with programs to extend the pipeline. The Short Term Enrichment Program (STEP) of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine adds a new dimension to these efforts by involving parents, who directly or indirectly impact their children's career decisions. The program consists of an introductory two‐day course that includes presentations of the dental profession, laboratory, and virtual classrooms. Biannual follow‐up workshops are conducted for both children and parents. Outcomes are measured through pre‐ and post‐program surveys, focus groups, and interviews. STEP attendance has increased over five years, with a total of 163 students participating and 56 percent of their parents attending the program. Eighty participants have graduated from high school, twenty‐three of whom are enrolled in a predental program or dental school; twelve are in other prehealth programs. Students in predental programs or dental school have the highest percentage of parents who participated in STEP (96 percent) and engaged them in discussions over career goals (100 percent).
Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness in U.S. Dental Schools and the Value of Triangulation
Authors: Jahangiri Leila , Mucciolo Thomas W. , Choi Mijin , Spielman Andrew I.
Published: June 2020

The routine evaluation of teaching effectiveness is important in improving faculty, departmental, and institutional efforts. There are three main categories of assessments: those performed by students, peers, and self. Although each category is independently valid, a collection of data from all three categories leads to a more comprehensive outcome and a creation of a triangulation model. The purpose of this study was to identify commonly used methods of assessing teaching effectiveness and to suggest the use of a triangulation model, which has been advocated in the literature on performance assessment as an optimal approach for evaluating teaching effectiveness. A twelve‐question survey was sent to all U.S. dental schools to identify evaluation methods as well as to find evidence of triangulation. Thirty‐nine out of fifty‐seven schools responded. The majority of the schools used student evaluations (81 percent) and peer reviews (78 percent). A minority of schools reported using self‐evaluations (31 percent). Less than one in five dental schools reported using all three strategies to achieve triangulation (19 percent). The three most commonly used evaluation methods (“performed routinely”) were all in the student evaluation category. Less than half of the schools routinely evaluated clinical teaching effectiveness by any means (42 percent). In conclusion, dental schools should implement a triangulation process, in which evaluation data are obtained from students, peers, and self to provide a comprehensive and composite assessment of teaching effectiveness.
Does Orthodontic Treatment Affect Patients’ Quality of Life?
Authors: Kiyak H. Asuman
Published: June 2020

The oral‐facial region is usually an area of significant concern for the individual because it draws the most attention from other people in interpersonal interactions and is the primary source of vocal, physical, and emotional communication. As a result, patients who seek orthodontic treatment are concerned with improving their appearance and social acceptance, often more than they are with improving their oral function or health. Enhancing these aspects of quality of life is an important motive for undergoing orthodontic treatment. Regardless of age, patients’ and their parents’ or caregivers’ expectations about improvements in oral function, esthetics, social acceptance, and body image are important for both general dentists and orthodontists to consider when advising patients about these procedures and during the treatment process. This review of research on the impact of conventional and surgical orthodontics on quality of life examines the association between oral health‐related quality of life and severity and type of malocclusion, as well as the impact of treatment and patient characteristics on quality of life. The article will emphasize the importance of clinicians’ having a clear understanding, before initiating treatment, of their patients’ quality of life and their expectations about improvements in specific domains of quality of life.
Mindfulness and Professionalism in Dentistry
Authors: Lovas John G. , Lovas David A. , Lovas P. Michael
Published: June 2020

To improve the effectiveness of teaching professionalism, the authors propose introducing mindfulness practice into the dental curriculum. The qualities cultivated through mindfulness meditation practice closely resemble the global attitudes of professionalism. Professionalism and mindfulness are broad overlapping constructs with a common prosocial aim: letting go of selfish, short‐sighted rewards and promoting the long‐term common good. Both constructs also aim for the highest quality of life for practitioners and patients alike. Based on a selective review of the medical literature, we suggest that mindfulness practice should help improve attentiveness, self‐awareness, acceptance, wisdom, and self‐care in dentistry. We briefly review the role of mindfulness in higher education, as well as current attempts at Dalhousie University to integrate mindfulness into the dental and dental hygiene curricula.
Dental Hygiene Education About Patients with Special Needs: A Survey of U.S. Programs
Authors: Dehaitem Maryam J. , Ridley Karen , Kerschbaum Wendy E. , Inglehart Marita Rohr
Published: June 2020

The objective of this study was to explore how dental hygiene programs in the United States educate their students about treating patients with special needs. Data were collected from 102 U.S. dental hygiene programs (response rate=49 percent) with a web‐based survey. Nearly all programs (98 percent) reported that they present this material in lectures. However, only 42 percent of the programs required students to gain clinical experiences with patients with special needs. Most programs covered the treatment of patients with physical/sensory impairments such as hearing impairments (93.1 percent), psychopathologies (89.2 percent), and adult onset neurological disorders (89.2 percent). Outcome assessments were usually done in a written exam (97.1 percent), while objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) (9.8 percent) and standardized patient experiences (4.9 percent) were less frequently used. Respondents identified “curriculum overload” as the biggest challenge to addressing special patient needs. Nevertheless, 29.4 percent of the respondents indicated that they support an increase in clinical experiences for students to give them increased opportunities to work with patients with special needs. Recent changes in accreditation standards require graduating dental hygiene students to be competent in assessing the treatment needs of special needs patients. Based on the program directors’ responses, recommendations can be made to increase the opportunities for students to have clinical experiences with patients with special needs and to address the needs of patients with special needs more comprehensively in dental hygiene curricula.
Effect of Gender on Performance of Undergraduate Dental Students at the University of Jordan, Amman
Authors: Sawair Faleh A. , Baqain Zaid H. , Al‐Omari Iyad Kh. , Wahab Fouad K. , Rajab Lamis D.
Published: June 2020

The purpose of this study was to see if gender‐based differences exist in the performance of dental students at the University of Jordan (UJ), Amman. The retrospective analysis included data from two groups of students: 413 fourth‐year dental students (178 males and 275 females) from four consecutive years (2005 through 2008) and 357 fifth‐year students (128 males and 229 females) who graduated in the years 2005 to 2008. The influence of gender on the results of the fourth‐year students in six theoretical and six clinical courses and the cumulative GPAs of the fifth‐year students were studied. In both theoretical and clinical fourth‐year courses, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant main differences in raw scores between the two gender groups. Female students were significantly better in five theoretical courses. In clinical courses, female students outscored male students in pediatric dentistry and prosthodontics, male students outperformed female students in conservative dentistry and orthodontics, and no significant gender differences were seen in oral surgery and fixed prosthodontics. The cumulative GPAs of the female graduated students were significantly higher than those of the male students. The results showed a significant relationship between gender and academic performance of dental students for these classes. The reasons for these findings should be further investigated.
Developing Dental Faculty for the Future: ADEA/AAL Institute for Teaching and Learning, 2006–09
Authors: Haden N. Karl , Hendricson William D. , Killip John W. , O'Neill Paula N. , Reed Michael J. , Weinstein George , Williams John N. , Valachovic Richard W.
Published: June 2020

This report summarizes the history and curriculum of the American Dental Education Association/Academy for Academic Leadership Institute for Teaching and Learning (ADEA/AAL ITL) Program for Dental School Faculty, describes participant feedback, and reviews how the program serves the faculty development initiatives of the American Dental Education Association. The fifty‐hour program (6.5 days), conducted in two phases at collaborating dental schools, enhances core academic competencies of new and transitional faculty, including faculty members whose responsibilities include predoctoral, allied, and postdoctoral dental education. The program's mission is to prepare participants to become more effective teachers and develop other skills that will facilitate confidence, job satisfaction, and professional growth in the academic environment. From 2005 to 2009, 174 individuals graduated from the program, representing forty‐three schools of dentistry in the United States and Canada and twenty‐nine private practices. A total of forty scholarships have been awarded to participants by the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the American Association of Orthodontists. In an online survey completed by 75 percent of ADEA/AAL ITL participants, 99 percent indicated they were positive or highly positive about their learning experience in this faculty development program. Ninety‐six percent stated that the program had been important or very important in their effectiveness as a teacher. In 2010, the program will be held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, with phase I occurring on August 19–22, 2010, and phase II on October 22–24, 2010. In summary, the ADEA/AAL ITL is addressing an unmet need through a formal professional development program designed to help new and potential faculty members thrive as educators and become future leaders in academic health care.
Iranian Dental Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Towards HIV/AIDS Patients
Authors: Sadeghi Mostafa , Hakimi Hamid
Published: June 2020

Dental treatment procedures frequently involve blood and saliva that may be contaminated with HIV. The purpose of this cross‐sectional survey was to assess Iranian dental students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS patients. In 2008, a fifty‐three‐item self‐administered questionnaire was conducted on all 750 dental students who participated in the 10th Dental Student Congress in Isfahan, Iran. The overall response rate to the questionnaire was 60.7 percent. The total mean knowledge and attitudes scores were 82.1 percent (excellent) and 57.4 percent (negative), respectively. There were no significant differences in the knowledge or attitude scores between male and female students. A majority of the students were aware of the association between HIV and oral candidiasis (98.1 percent), major aphthous (95.8 percent), and Kaposi's sarcoma (93.8 percent). Although a majority of the students had excellent knowledge (78.4 percent), only 1 percent had professional attitudes about treating patients with HIV/AIDS. Therefore, it is important that dental students, as future dentists, develop not only the necessary practical skills but also attitudes that will prepare them to treat HIV/AIDS patients.
Bridging the Poverty Gap in Dental Education: How Can People Living in Poverty Help Us?
Authors: Lévesque Martine C. , Dupéré Sophie , Loignon Christine , Levine Alissa , Laurin Isabelle , Charbonneau Anne , Bedos Christophe
Published: June 2020

Dental education on specific knowledge and intervention approaches for working with people living on welfare is crucial to the therapeutic success of the relationships dental professionals establish with this clientele. Despite growing attention to the importance of cultural competence and communication skills training in dentistry, very few initiatives have been documented in relation to serving low‐income populations. Following discussions at a 2006 Montreal‐based colloquium on access to dental care, academics, dental association administrators, and public health agency and antipoverty coalition representatives began collaborating to develop innovative pedagogy designed to increase providers’ competence in interacting with their underprivileged patients. The group's first round of workshops (November 2006–October 2007) resulted in the creation of an original video‐based tool containing testimonies from six individuals living currently or formerly on welfare. The videotaped interview data represent their perceptions and experiences regarding their oral health, dental care service provision, and poverty in general. This article describes the participative methods, the content of the resulting DVD, and the implications of the “Listening to Each Other” program, a collaborative knowledge translation approach for improving interaction between underprivileged people and dental care providers.
Taking a Quality Assurance Program From Paper to Electronic Health Records: One Dental School's Experience
Authors: Filker Phyllis J. , Muckey Erin Joy , Kelner Steven M. , Kodish‐Stav Jodi
Published: June 2020

The Obama administration is seeking to increase access to and improve the efficiency of the health care system in the United States. One aspect of those efforts is a push towards the utilization of electronic health records (EHRs) by health care providers. Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine (NSU‐CDM) opened its doors in 1997 and began its evolution from paper charts to EHRs in 2006. AxiUm, a computer‐run patient record and clinical management system, has become an integral part of the college's quality assurance program and its students’ clinical education. Since the introduction of axiUm, the school has already noticed an increase in the quality of patient care due to improved oversight of patient management and the ability to more efficiently track treatment outcomes. Over time, the system will enable data collected by students providing care in the clinics to be quantified. Opposition to EHRs tends to stem primarily from the amount of time required for users to gain proficiency in the new technology, as well as from the initial cost to the provider. But there is no better place to begin this learning process regarding the importance and utilization of EHR systems than universities, where health professions students can acquire a comfort level with EHRs in an academic environment that they may then implement in their future practice.
Teaching, Learning, and Assessment in Geriatric Dentistry: Researching Models of Practice
Authors: Shah Naseem
Published: June 2020

Changing demography due to the increasing population of elderly persons the world over has raised new challenges in every sphere of life. The greatest challenge is to provide affordable, accessible, and equitable health care to this population. Oral health is an integral part of general health and affects physical and mental well‐being and quality of life of elderly persons. To provide quality oral health care to the elderly, it is important to focus on education in geriatric dentistry, since it is known that education is closely linked to health care provision. It has been found that education in geriatric dentistry has wide variations in different parts of the world. Also, it is being taught at different levels: the predoctoral curriculum, postdoctoral certificate/diploma courses of varying duration by direct or distance mode using computer‐assisted learning, degree courses of three years’ duration, or continuing education programs. This article attempts to study geriatric dentistry education in global perspective. It is discussed in three sections: 1) varying concepts and methods of teaching, learning, and assessment in dental education; 2) status of geriatric dental education in developed and developing countries with emphasis on the Indian scenario; and 3) challenges and opportunities in developing geriatric dental education.
Facilitating Preceptor and Student Communication in a Dental School Teaching Clinic
Authors: Sakaguchi Ronald L.
Published: June 2020

Teachable moments in the dental clinic are rare and are not adequately exploited. Students often ask simple procedural questions, such as “What should I do next?” A preferred approach is one in which the clinic preceptor helps the dental student collect data about the patient's condition, analyze the data, and consider scientific evidence and the patient's profile in the formulation of diagnoses and treatment plans. The School of Dentistry at Oregon Health & Science University modified the one‐minute preceptor method that was developed to instruct medical students in clinical office settings, using the acronym iCARE, which is an abbreviation for microskills that the dental preceptor and student follow when interacting in a dental clinic setting. From the preceptor's perspective, iCARE stands for Inquire, Cultivate, Advise, Reinforce, and Empower; from the student's perspective, iCARE is Initiate, Contribute, Apply, Reflect, and Execute. iCARE enhances the value achieved in preceptor and student interactions, promotes the student's critical thinking, and encourages the student's use of scientific evidence in formulating and supporting patient care decisions in the clinic.
Considering Theory‐Based Reflection in the Service‐Learning Training of Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Residents
Authors: Kunzel Carol , Kaur Satvir , Ahluwalia Kavita , Darlington Tanya , Kularatne Piyumika , Burkett Sandra , Hou Derek , Sanogo Moussa , Murrman Marita , Edelstein Burton
Published: June 2020

Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, in partnership with the Harlem United Community AIDS Center, has developed a service‐learning (SL) program for use in the training of Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residents. This article presents basic tenets of SL, their applicability for dentistry, and our experience implementing SL in care of people living with HIV/AIDS. It proposes that social‐behavioral theory, when incorporated into the basic components of SL, can play a useful role in resolving a number of challenges inherent in competency‐based training programs. Although the article provides examples of how a particular theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, might be applied in the SL context, opportunities for the application of other social‐behavioral theories potentially exist.
Fourth‐Year Dental Students’ Perceived Barriers to Providing Tobacco Intervention Services
Authors: Pendharkar Bhagyashree , Levy Steven M. , McQuistan Michelle R. , Qian Fang , Squier Christopher A. , Slach Nancy A. , Aquilino Mary L.
Published: June 2020

In order to facilitate effective tobacco cessation services within dental school clinics, it is necessary to understand the perceived barriers encountered by dental students while providing these services. The aim of this study was to identify which factors fourth‐year dental students perceive to be associated with barriers to providing tobacco intervention services. A written survey was developed and completed by incoming fourth‐year dental students (a convenience sample of seventy students) at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 2008. The survey assessed the perceived barriers to providing tobacco intervention services and related factors. Descriptive, bivariate, and linear regression analyses were conducted. The response rate was 97 percent. The most frequently reported barriers were patients’ resistance to tobacco intervention services (96 percent), inadequate time available for tobacco intervention services (96 percent), and forgetting to give tobacco intervention advice (91 percent). The following variables were significantly (p<0.05) related to greater perceived barriers in providing tobacco intervention services: lower “adequacy of tobacco intervention curriculum coverage of specific topics covered over the previous three years” and greater “perceived importance of incorporating objective structured clinical examination teaching method for learning tobacco intervention.” Students probably could benefit from additional didactic training, but most important may be enhanced clinical experiences and faculty reinforcement to facilitate effective practical student learning and adaptation for future delivery of intervention services in private practice settings.
Mobile Phone Hygiene: Potential Risks Posed by Use in the Clinics of an Indian Dental School
Authors: Singh Sweta , Acharya Shashidhar , Bhat Meghashyam , Rao SreeVidya Krishna , Pentapati Kalyana Chakravarthy
Published: June 2020

The objectives of this cross‐sectional study were to determine the level and type of bacterial contamination of the mobile phones of dental personnel involved in direct patient care and to determine the usefulness of cleaning with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol for decontamination. Dental faculty and trainees in an Indian dental school were asked to participate in a study in which a questionnaire concerning patterns of mobile phone use and disinfection was administered. Swabs from mobile phones of the participants were taken using moist sterile swabs and plated on blood agar plates. The bacteria isolated were identified by biochemical tests. Eighteen percent of the participants (n=9) reported using their phones while attending patients. Nearly 64 percent (n=32) used their mobiles for checking time, and 64 percent (n=42) reported never cleaning their phones. In total, fifty mobile phones were cultured for microorganisms: 98 percent (n=49) were culture‐positive, and 34 percent (n=17) grew potentially pathogenic bacteria. There was significant reduction in the mean number of colony‐forming units after decontamination with alcohol (p<0.001). The bacterial load was reduced by around 87 percent. The results of this study show that mobile phones may act as an important source of nosocomial pathogens in the dental setting. Therefore, it is important for dental school administrators to encourage higher compliance with hand‐washing practices and routine surface disinfection through framing of strict protocols to reduce the chances of occurrence of nosocomial infections.
Jordanian Dental Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes in Regard to Child Physical Abuse
Authors: Al‐Jundi Suhad H.S. , Zawaideh Feda I. , Al‐Rawi Moammar H.
Published: June 2020

The aim of this study was to investigate Jordanian dental students’ educational experience, attitudes, and knowledge regarding child physical abuse. Data were collected from a self‐administered questionnaire completed by 441 undergraduate and postgraduate dental students in both dental schools in Jordan. Descriptive statistics were used to report responses to each question. The chi‐square test was used to analyze the relationship between students’ responses and level of education; the difference was considered significant if the probability of the difference was less than 5 percent. Results indicated major lack of knowledge of social indicators, signs of physical abuse, and reporting procedure among all respondents with no significant difference between postgraduate and undergraduate students. Most students indicated that their dental school was the main source of information on this topic; however, more postgraduates reported benefit from extracurricular sources. We conclude that dental students in Jordan are not sufficiently prepared to undergo their role in protection of children from abuse. Dental curricula in both dental schools include information on the topic of child abuse; however, the content should be expanded to better prepare the students.
Organization and Management of Community‐Based Dental Education Programs: An Overview from the Dental Pipeline Program
Authors: Bailit Howard L.
Published: June 2020

Disparities in access to dental care are a major problem in the United States. Effectively run community‐based dental education programs can make a significant contribution to reducing access disparities and at the same time enrich the educational experiences of dental students and residents. For complex historical reasons, dental schools did not base their clinical training programs in community hospitals and clinics like the other health professions. Now, because of trends in school finances, changes in societal values, and limitations in current educational experiences, schools are increasing the time students spend in community clinics. This is likely to continue. The chapters in the first section of the report on the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community‐Based Dental Education program—for which this chapter serves as an introduction—provide detailed information on the operation of community‐based education programs.
The “Hot Seat” Experience: A Multifaceted Approach to the Teaching of Ethics in a Dental Curriculum
Authors: Brondani Mario A. , Rossoff Lawrence P.
Published: June 2020

The subject of ethics and the teaching of skills associated with ethical reasoning in a predoctoral dental curriculum are as important as clinical skills development, but there is no single approach to teaching ethics in dentistry. This article aims to describe the didactic approach used to teach dental ethics and ethical reasoning in the first year of the D.M.D. curriculum at the University of British Columbia. This descriptive article discusses three main pedagogies employed to teach ethics: the “hot seat” experience via a role‐play with a trained actor (standardized patient, SP); small‐group presentations of a case workup deconstructing an ethical dilemma; and student reflections from the SP encounters. The approach to dental ethics presented here does not profess to make an otherwise unethical person ethical, but it can give all students the tools to recognize when a dilemma exists, use a process to reason ethically, and ultimately make a good decision. The “hot seat” and the case workup approaches have had a positive impact upon students as illustrated through their reflections; however, further study is needed to better understand the implications of ethical issues in both academic and professional settings.