The development of an exemplar e-module for the continuing professional development of European dentists.

AIM: To present the development of an exemplar e-module for dental continuing professional development (CPD) provided by dental schools and other dental educational providers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The exemplar e-module covered the topic of 'Sterilisation and cross-infection control in the dental practice' as this is one of the most recommended topics for dental CPD in Europe. It was developed by a group of topic experts, adult learning and distance learning experts and a technical developer. Major concerns were pedagogy, interoperability, usability and cost reduction. Open-source material was used to reduce the cost of development. RESULTS: The e-module was pre-piloted in dental practitioners for usability and then evaluated by experts in the field and dental academics through an electronic questionnaire and an online presentation and discussion at the ADEE 2012 Special Interest Group on DentCPD-Lifelong learning. This facilitated refinement before final production. A Creative Commons License was implemented to ensure the developers' rights and facilitate wider distribution and access to CPD providers. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The e-module was developed according to well-defined pedagogical and technical guidelines for developing e-learning material for adult learners. It was structured to promote self-study by directing learners through their study, promoting interaction with the material, offering explanation and providing feedback. Content validity was ensured by extensive review by experts. The next step would be to expand the evaluation to practising dentists in various countries after relevant translations, and adaptations to local policies have been made.

Monomer conversion in dual-cured core buildup materials.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the impact of self-curing (SC) and light-curing (LC) mechanisms on the curing efficiency of dual-cured buildup restorative materials (DCB). METHODS: The DCB materials tested were: Clearfil DC Core Automix (CD), Cosmecore DC (CM), LuxaCore DC (LX) and MultiCore DC Flow (MC). The SC material Clearfil Core New Bond (CN) and the LC material Clearfil Photo Core (CP) were used as controls. Specimens (Ø=4 mm, d=1 mm, n=4) of DCB materials prepared without light-exposure were tested after 10-, 20-, 30- and 60-minutes of storage in dark and dry conditions (37°C), whereas DCB specimens light-cured immediately after mixing (20 seconds, 850mW/cm2) served as a reference. The amount of remaining C=C bonds (%RDB) was measured on the bottom specimen surfaces using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. One-way ANOVA and multiple comparison tests were used to evaluate the statistically significant differences (α=0.05). RESULTS: Polymerization mode had a strong effect on the polymerization efficacy of the DCB materials (p<0.0001). The control materials (CN, CP) performed better than the DCB materials (p<0.0001), except for LX in the LC mode. LX and MC showed better SC conversion during the initial 20-minute period. After 60 minutes, the %RDB values of CM were still above 60%, whereas in CD and LX, they reached the level of LC specimens. CONCLUSIONS: The LC initiation mechanism of the DCB materials that were tested resulted in better C=C conversion when compared to their native SC mechanisms. The SC and LC control materials performed better than the DCB materials, with the exception of LX in the LC mode.