A Pilot Study on an Interprofessional Course Involving Pharmacy and Dental Students in a Dental Clinic.

Objective. To assess the effect of a dental clinical rotation program involving pharmacy students and dental students. Methods. An interprofessional education (IPE) course was offered as an elective to second-year pharmacy students and required for third-year dental students. The course included two in-class sessions, one online lecture, and five clinic sessions. Program evaluation analyses included a comparison of participating versus nonparticipating students on a knowledge survey of pharmacotherapy and IPE, and a descriptive analysis of IPE course evaluation results. Results. Among pharmacy students, mean scores were significantly higher for participants than nonparticipants on the 31-item pharmacy knowledge component of the survey. On the eight-item IPE component of the survey, scores were significantly higher for participants than for nonparticipants, both among pharmacy students and among dental students. Awareness and attitudes about IPE were generally high among course participants. Conclusion. An IPE course that integrates second-year pharmacy students with third-year dental students in the dental clinic to provide medication history, education, and identification of potential drug-related problems improved pharmacy students' knowledge of pharmacotherapy related to or associated with dental conditions and improved pharmacy and dental students' knowledge and attitudes about IPE.

Oral Health Care Quality Measurement and Its Role in Dental Education.

Concerns about health care quality have affected much of the health care delivery system including dentistry and dental education. Believing measurement is the key element in improving quality, the Dental Quality Alliance brought together major stakeholders in oral health care to lead the development of oral health performance measures that can be used to evaluate the performance of dental programs and practices. These measures complement the quality assurance measures dental schools use to ensure compliance with accreditation standards on patient care delivery. This article describes the rationale for and process of developing these performance measures and argues that dental schools should implement quality measurement processes in their clinical programs to improve the clinical practices of the present and better prepare their graduates for their practices of the future.

Effect of a Pilot Preclinical Incentive Program on Dental Students' Performance on a Clinical Competency Exam.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a pilot preclinical incentive program on dental students' performance on a clinical competency (mock board) exam at Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona. To assess the effect of preclinical grade incentives in a program called SUCCEED, scores from a clinical competency exam administered during the fall quarter of the fourth year were compared between the graduating classes of 2014 and 2015 (pre-SUCCEED curriculum) and the graduating class of 2016 (post-SUCCEED curriculum). The study hypothesized that the class participating in the SUCCEED program, with its incentives for greater preclinical preparation and practice, would score higher than the other classes on the exams. The results showed that the endodontics and periodontics pass rates and test scores from the Class of 2016 were higher than those from the Classes of 2014 and 2015; the prosthodontics pass rates were similar; and the operative dentistry pass rates and test scores were lower than the Classes of 2014 and 2015. While the results of two of the four subsections of the competency exam showed an improvement in clinical performance for the Class of 2016, the operative dentistry test scores for that class were less than expected. Based on the increased number of operative dentistry procedures performed in preclinical simulation and the clinic, the authors conclude that the competency exam should not be the only measure to evaluate success of the SUCCEED program.

Implementation of new technologies in U.S. dental school curricula.

With dentistry rapidly evolving as new technologies are developed, this study aimed to identify the penetration of emerging dental technologies into the curricula of U.S. dental schools and to explore whether certain school characteristics affected adoption of these technologies. A 19-question survey was sent to the academic deans of all 62 U.S. dental schools. In addition to questions about characteristics of the school, the survey asked respondents to indicate where in their curricula the technology was incorporated: preclinical didactic, preclinical laboratory, clinical didactic, and/or clinical patient experience. Of 62 eligible schools, 33 useable responses were received, for a 52% response rate. The results showed that the greatest overall penetration of dental technologies was in preclinical didactic courses and the lowest was in the preclinical laboratory. Specific technologies implemented in the largest percentage of responding schools were digital radiography and rotary endodontics. The technologies with the lowest penetration were CAD/CAM denture fabrication and hard tissue lasers. These results suggest that the incorporation of technology into dental schools is following that of private practice as the most widely adopted technologies were those with the greatest acceptance and use in private practice. Among the respondents, factors such as class size and age of the school had greater impact on incorporation of technology than funding source and geographic location.

ADEA CCI vision focuses on preparing graduates for discoveries of the future.

The vision of the American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) is embodied in its new slogan: building consensus and leading change to prepare graduates for an undiscovered future. The ADEA CCI envisions a future in which dental practice is vastly different from what it is today and dental education must be very different for graduates who face a future of unimaginable scientific discovery. Dental curricula need to change to better prepare today's dental students, not only for the practice of today but also for the challenges they will face in their practices of the future. The goal of "building consensus" is directed toward the many constituencies that work with dental education and its graduates. The ADEA CCI has developed a variety of policy recommendations, strategies, and resources to help policymakers, dental educators, and dental graduates better prepare for this undiscovered future. A key resource is twenty-two commissioned white papers that cover diverse topics, such as curriculum reform, facilitating change, faculty development, student assessment, and academic leadership.

Rural and urban differences in prosthodontic care provided by Virginia general dentists.

Virginia dentists were surveyed to reveal how changes in practice activities affected rural and urban practices in terms of prosthodontics and to assess the impact these changes may have on dentists, continuing education courses, and school curricula. Six hundred licensed dentists were selected at random and were mailed a survey containing questions about their demographics and the types of prosthodontic treatment they performed. Of the 333 respondents, 195 were considered eligible to represent general dentists. Based on this study, rural dentists devote slightly more practice time to providing removable prosthodontic treatment and oral surgery than urban dentists and slightly less time to providing implant restorative treatment. Rural dentists provide significantly more patients with removable partial dentures, complete dentures with no implants, and complete dentures of any type. Most prosthodontic fees were significantly lower for rural dentists.

Survey of prosthodontic service provided by general dentists in Virginia.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Activities in prosthodontic treatment may be changing due to prevalence of disease and new treatment options. Studies cite conflicting evidence in regard to prosthodontic services, particularly removable prosthodontics. PURPOSE: This project was designed to describe the amount of prosthodontic services provided by general dentists in Virginia. Results may enhance understanding practice patterns in Virginia and regions with similar demographics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Licensed Virginia dentists (n=600) were randomly selected from the Virginia Department of Health Professions website. Each individual was mailed a survey of questions about his or her demographics and practice activities with regard to prosthodontics. RESULTS: Of the 333 respondents, 195 provide prosthodontic treatment and function as general dentists. On average, they spend 25% of their practice time providing prosthodontic services (17% fixed and 8% removable). They provide at least 1 complete denture for a mean total of 24.3 patients per year, at least 1 removable partial denture for a mean total of 28.7 patients per year, at least 1 fixed partial denture for a mean total of 23.0 patients per year, at least 1 implant-supported crown for a mean total of 12.3 patients per year, and at least 1 implant-supported fixed partial denture for mean total of 3.3 patients per year. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data for total population and median income were analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. CONCLUSION: Virginia dentists continue to provide considerable numbers of fixed prosthodontic restorations, removable partial dentures, and complete dentures, while providing a growing number of implant-supported restorations.

Periodontal services rendered by general practitioners.

BACKGROUND: There are few reports in the dental literature regarding the types of periodontal services offered by general practitioners (GPs). The purpose of this study was to determine the specific nature of periodontal services rendered by GPs and to investigate whether certain variables affect GPs' practice patterns. METHODS: A 13-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 600 dentists practicing in the state of Virginia. GPs were asked to identify the periodontal services rendered in their office within a 3-month period. Descriptive statistics, simple correlation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to identify significant relationships between variables and periodontal services. RESULTS: Ninety percent of GPs reported treating at least one patient with scaling and root planing, and 16% of GPs reported rendering this service to >36 patients. Eighty-six percent of GPs reported providing periodontal maintenance in their practices. Approximately 50% of dentists reported up to 24 patients having received periodontal maintenance. Fifty-eight percent of GPs reported that >or=90% of scaling and root planing was done by the hygienists. Fifty-five percent of GPs treated at least one patient with site-specific therapy using chemotherapeutic agents. Twenty-eight percent of GPs treated one to five patients with low-dose antibiotic. Seventy percent of GPs treated at least one patient with occlusal therapies, and 50% reported treating one to five patients with occlusal therapies. The most common surgical services performed included crown lengthening and pocket reduction surgery, which were done by 38% and 21% of GPs, respectively. A few GPs (N = 26) performed the majority of periodontal surgical services. Variables found to influence specific services rendered by GPs included year of dental school graduation, recent hours of continuing education related to periodontics, combined number of dental hygienist days per week, percentage of periodontal patients in practice, and referral for non-surgical periodontal therapy. CONCLUSIONS: A variety of periodontal services were offered by GPs. The most common services were non-surgical in nature. Certain variables affected specific periodontal services rendered in general dental offices.

Faculty appointment policies and tracks in U.S. dental schools with clinical or research emphases.

The 1995 Institute of Medicine study of the future of dental education, Dental Education at the Crossroads: Challenges and Change, recommended that dental schools increase the use of nontenure-track positions in their employment of faculty. As part of a larger investigation of faculty appointment processes in U.S. dental schools, dental deans were queried about institutional policies governing faculty appointments and the use of tenure and nontenure faculty tracks. Response from the fifty-four U.S. schools exceeded 90 percent for each of two mailed questionnaires. Dental schools were classified according to one of two emphases: clinical or research. Deans classified faculty into one of seven appointment tracks. Nontenure-track appointments were less common in clinical-emphasis schools. Research-emphasis schools had a greater mean proportion of their faculties in both the nontenure research track (7.0 percent vs. 2.7 percent) and the nontenure clinical track (20.8 percent vs. 17.4 percent). Compared to faculty appointment data reported in 1990, there were more nontenure-track faculty in 81 percent of research-oriented schools and 55 percent of clinical-oriented schools. The most frequently cited reasons for more nontenure faculty in these thirty-three schools were greater administrative flexibility, better fulfillment of mission, and increased difficulty achieving tenure. This study showed the number of faculty holding nontenure-track appointments had increased since 1990, especially among research-emphasis dental schools.