ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Online learning has been used to continue dental education activities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to compare the learning effectiveness between physical classroom and online class learning for dental education during the COVID-19 pandemic by the questionnaire survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire-based online survey was used to evaluate the learning effectiveness on the dental students who took the compulsory course entitled "oral pathology and diagnosis" in School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University in 2021. Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the difference in learning effectiveness between physical classroom and online class learning for dental education during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: In this study, dental students tended to have a viewpoint that the learning effectiveness of online class learning was better than that of physical classroom learning. On the contrary, they tended to have a viewpoint that the convenience and fairness of physical classroom examination was better than that of online examination (all P-values < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that our dental students are ready to take online courses. In terms of blended learning courses, the combination of physical classroom and online courses is the future trend of dental education. At this moment, dental schools must prepare their abilities for the implementation of online courses to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the next crisis, as well as for the needs of future dental education.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The dentists are the high-risk group of infectious respiratory diseases during dental treatment. This study investigated the changes of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected the data of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in each city and county of Taiwan in October 2019, April 2020, and October 2020 for evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan. RESULTS: After the COVID-19 outbreak, the total increased numbers of practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan were 408, 14, and -16 from October 2019 to October 2020, respectively. In addition, their increased rates of the corresponding items were 2.76%, 0.21%, and -0.72%, respectively. The increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to April 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (Pâ¯<â¯0.001) and that of hospital dentists (Pâ¯<â¯0.001). Moreover, the increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to October 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (Pâ¯<â¯0.01). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased number of practicing dentists is not different from that in the past, but the increased numbers and rates of dental clinics and hospital dentists are lower than those in the past. This indicates that the willingness of dentists to open new dental clinics or work in hospitals reduces due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.