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Background Medical assessment of patients treated by dental school students with regard to medical history, medication use and allergies to determine potential medical risks of the changing population structure and to develop implications for future curriculum design. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the medical records of patients, treated between November 2020 and October 2021, for demographic data (age, sex), allergies, systemic disorders, existing diseases, and medication use. Diseases were categorized according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), while medication was classified based on the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification. A statistical analysis of the correlations between patient characteristics and prevalence data was performed. Results Data of 297 participants were analysed, including 142 women (mean age 55.51 ± 14.9 yrs) and 155 men (54.91 ± 15.52 yrs). Systemic diseases were present in 189 individuals (63.6%), 178 (60.1%) were taking medication, and 138 (46.5%) had at least one allergy. Polypharmacy (≥ 3 medications) was observed in 28% of participants (mean age 62.4 years). Medication use and disease burden increased significantly with age (e.g., cardiovascular medication: OR = 1.09 per year; 95% CI: 1.07–1.12; p  < 0.001). A statistically significant sex difference was observed for hormonal medication (ATC H: 68% female vs. 32% male; p  = 0.0012). Conclusion The observed advanced age profile of the patients and its correlation with the prevalence of systemic diseases, medication use, and allergies demonstrated the medical complexity of dental patients care. These observations emphasize the importance of providing undergraduates but also postgraduates with a more comprehensive medical education to prepare them to effectively treat medically complex patients.

The goal of this study was to gain student-centered insights to better understand the challenges of transitioning from undergraduate to dental education. To this end, questionnaires were designed and distributed to incoming dental students, as well as second-, third-, and fourth-year students in the same year for a cross-sectional assessment in 2015/2016. The same questionnaires were also distributed to those same incoming students when they were in their second, third, and fourth years for a longitudinal assessment (2015–2019). There were both open-ended and Likert scale-type questions about expectations (incoming students) and experiences (years 2–4) in dental school compared to undergraduate education. Accordingly, data analysis involved a combination of qualitative and quantitative statistical approaches. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses showed that incoming students expected an increased workload in dental school, but also more attention, support, and access to faculty than they received as undergraduates (i.e., they expected a stronger academic support system). All students also reported experiencing more stress and greater difficulty managing their time than expected when compared to their undergraduate experiences. Thus, our study highlights areas of discrepancy between dental students’ initial expectations and their lived experience. Importantly, dental schools can take measures to address these discrepancies, foster a better learning environment, and improve students’ overall experience to help pave a smooth path for students to become successful and well-prepared oral health care providers.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan has severely disrupted the health professions education, notably in dentistry. This study aims to explore the impact of the armed conflict on dental education and training. A mixed-method cross-sectional study encompassed 29 dental schools in Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan States, and Merowe City. Five key informants from the Sudanese Medical Specialization Board, the Human Resource Development Administration, and a university offering clinical dental master’s programs were interviewed. Quantitative data on attacks against dental schools were collected through a structured Google form, and qualitative data on postgraduate training were obtained through semi-structured key informant interviews. Findings reveal that 79.3% of dental schools faced military assaults, with 73.9% experiencing looting and 60.9% repurposed as military bases. Notably, 44.8% of schools shifted to online education,3.4% collaborated with other universities, and 27.6% adopted a combined approach. Key informants’ interviews unveiled disruptions in specialty training and housemanship, limiting access to crucial training facilities. The primary proposed solution was overseas training. Recurrently emphasized strategies to enhance the resilience of the training system included establishing dental centers in all states, collaborating with external training bodies, and anticipating and preparing for potential disasters. The adverse effects of the conflict on both undergraduate and postgraduate dental education are discernible, manifested through resource limitations, a shortage of dental materials and supplies within training facilities, and direct disruptions to clinical training due to attacks on healthcare institutions. The imperative need for urgent interventions is underscored to alleviate these consequences and safeguard the continuity of educational and training efforts.

Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional national study was to investigate the status of digital dental technology (DDT) adoption in Saudi Arabian undergraduate dental education. A secondary objective was to explore the impact of dental schools’ funding sources to incorporate digital technologies. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the chairpersons of prosthetic sciences departments of the 27 dental schools in Saudi Arabia. If any department chairman failed to respond to the survey, a designated full-time faculty member was contacted to fill out the form. The participants were asked about the school’s sector, DDT implementation in the curriculum, implemented level, their perceptions of the facilitators and challenges for incorporating DDT. Results: Of the 27 dental schools (18 public and 8 private), 26 responded to the questionnaire (response rate: 96.3%). The geographic distribution of the respondent schools was as follows: 12 schools in the central region, 6 in the western region, and 8 in other regions. Seventeen schools secure and preserve patients’ records using electronic software, whereas nine schools use paper charts. Seventeen schools (64,4%) implemented DDT in their curricula. The schools that did not incorporate DDT into their undergraduate curricula were due to not being included in the curriculum (78%), lack of expertise (66%), untrained faculty and staff (44%), and cost (33%). Conclusions: This national study showed that digital components still need to be integrated into Saudi Arabian dental schools’ curricula and patient care treatment. Additionally, there was no association between funding sources and the DDT implementation into the current curricula. Consequently, Saudi dental schools must emphasize the implementation and utilization of DDT to align with Saudi Vision 2030 for healthcare digitization and to graduate competent dentists in digital dental care.

Improving oral health is a leading population health goal; however, curricula preparing health professionals have a dearth of oral health content and clinical experiences. We detail an educational and clinical innovation transitioning the traditional head, ears, eyes, nose, and throat (HEENT) examination to the addition of the teeth, gums, mucosa, tongue, and palate examination (HEENOT) for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of oral–systemic health. Many New York University nursing, dental, and medical faculty and students have been exposed to interprofessional oral health HEENOT classroom, simulation, and clinical experiences. This was associated with increased dental–primary care referrals. This innovation has potential to build interprofessional oral health workforce capacity that addresses a significant public health issue, increases oral health care access, and improves oral–systemic health across the lifespan.

Background The rapid aging of the European population and the subsequent increase in the oral care needs in older adults necessitates adequate training of dental professionals in Gerodontology (Geriatric Dentistry). This study was designed to investigate the current status of Gerodontology teaching amongst European dental schools at the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education levels. Methods An electronic questionnaire was developed by a panel of experts and emailed to the Deans or other contact persons of 216 dental schools across 39 European countries. The questionnaire recorded activity levels, contents and methodology of Gerodontology teaching as part of dental education programs. Repeated e-mail reminders and telephone calls were used to encourage non-responders to complete the questionnaire. Results A total of 123 responses from 29 countries were received (response rate: 56.9%). Gerodontology was taught in 86.2% of schools at the undergraduate level, in 30.9% at the postgraduate level and in 30.1% at the continuing education level. A total of 43.9% of the responding schools had a dedicated Gerodontology program director. Gerodontology was taught as an independent subject in 37.4% of the respondent schools. Medical problems in old age, salivary impairment and prosthodontic management were the most commonly covered topics in Gerodontology teaching. Clinical teaching took place in 64.2% of the respondent schools, with 26.8% offering clinical training in outreach facilities. Conclusions The vast majority of European dental schools currently teach Gerodontology at the undergraduate level. More training opportunities in oral care of frail elders should be offered, and more emphasis should be placed on interdisciplinary and interprofessional training, educational collaborations, and the use of modern technologies. Dedicated postgraduate Gerodontology courses need to be developed to create a significant number of specialized dentists and trained academics.

Oral health is a significant contributor to public health and a basic determinant of general health. As Egypt shows high prevalence of oral diseases, the aim of this study is to assess the oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KAB) among Egyptian adults. The study also correlates the KAB of the participants with their dental habits, caries experience and sociodemographic characteristics. A cross-sectional survey with non-probability convenience sampling was performed in a dental school hospital in Egypt. The Hiroshima University - Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) by Kawamura was used to assess the KAB, the survey also included questions about sociodemographic data and dental habits of the participants. In addition, a DMFT index was used to assess the caries experience. Continuous data was explored for normality using Kolmogrov Smirnov test and Shapiro Wilktest. Correlation between age, DMF, KAB and HU-DBI index was performed using spearman’s correlation. Association between categorical data and HU-DBI index was performed using the Chi-Square test. Significance level was set at P  ≤ 0.05 and all tests were two tailed. The study participants demonstrated fair HU-DBI score. Knowledge ( r  = 0.70), attitudes ( r  = 0.59) and behaviors ( r  = 0.47) had strong positive correlation with the HU-DBI score. The DMFT score showed a moderate negative correlation ( r =-0.35) with the overall HU DBI score. In addition, age showed a weak negative correlation ( r =-0.29) with HU DBI score. The dental habits and sociodemographic characteristics showed statistically significant effect on the overall HU-DBI score, with the exception for mouth wash use, gender, health status and smoking status which showed no significant effect. Adult patients in Egypt demonstrate fair oral health knowledge and attitude and poor oral health behaviors, in addition to high caries index. We recommend planning and implementing oral health programs to enhance the oral health of adults in Egypt. Clinical trial number : The protocol of the study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06689202.

Introduction The United Kingdom (UK) General Dental Council's (GDC's) learning outcomes for undergraduate dental students briefly mention critical appraisal but not statistics. Hence, wide variation in statistics teaching across the dental schools is likely but has not yet been well-documented. Methods A survey was conducted to capture the main features of each of the dental degrees in the 18 UK and Ireland dental schools in terms of statistics-related (standalone or as part of other courses/modules) teaching. Results Representatives from all 18 dental schools completed the survey. There were some similarities, such as most using teaching materials specifically developed for their school, and aiming to teach students to understand/interpret but not generate statistics. However, the number/type of staff delivering the teaching, student contact hours, number of statistical concepts taught, whether statistical theory/formulae/packages were used and inclusion in summative assessments varied extensively. Most reported that this teaching was negatively perceived by the students and many felt that changes were needed. Discussion and conclusion This comprehensive review of undergraduate dental statistics-related provision allows dental schools to compare and contrast their own teaching, which is very timely given the imminent need to implement a new GDC framework. Guidelines to encourage more standardised teaching should be developed to improve the ability of newly qualified dentists to practise evidence-based dentistry. Key points Wide variation in the provision of statistics-related teaching across undergraduate dental programmes in the UK and Ireland exists. Restrictions on time and resources and limited General Dental Council guidance are the main factors driving this variation. Guidelines are needed to encourage more standardised statistics-related teaching, which should improve the ability of newly qualified dentists to understand, interpret and critically appraise dental research.

BackgroundThe association between periodontitis and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ACVD) has been established in some modestly sized studies (<10 000). Rarely, however, periodontitis has been studied directly; often tooth loss or self-reported periodontitis has been used as a proxy measure for periodontitis. Our aim is to investigate the adjusted association between periodontitis and ACVD among all individuals registered in a large dental school in the Netherlands (Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA)).MethodsAnonymised data were extracted from the electronic health records for all registered patients aged >35 years (period 1998–2013). A participant was recorded as having periodontitis based on diagnostic and treatment codes. Any affirmative answer for cerebrovascular accidents, angina pectoris and/or myocardial infarction labelled a participant as having ACVD. Other risk factors for ACVD, notably age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and social economic status, were also extracted. Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the adjusted associations between periodontitis and ACVD.Results60 174 individuals were identified; 4.7% of the periodontitis participants (455/9730) and 1.9% of the non-periodontitis participants (962/50 444) reported ACVD; periodontitis showed a significant association with ACVD (OR 2.52; 95% CI 2.3 to 2.8). After adjustment for the confounders, periodontitis remained independently associated with ACVD (OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.39 to 1.81). With subsequent stratification for age and sex, periodontitis remained independently associated with ACVD.ConclusionsThis cross-sectional analysis of a large cohort in the Netherlands of 60 174 participants shows the independent association of periodontitis with ACVD.

Purpose Diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) requires fundamental understanding of sleep medicine, including training and clinical experience. So far, dental sleep medicine (DSM) has not yet become a mandatory part of dental education in Germany. This questionnaire-based survey for both lecturers and students aimed to evaluate DSM education among undergraduate students. Methods A structured questionnaire was sent to the managing directors and student councils of all 30 German university dental schools. The questionnaire contained 13 questions on teaching quantity and content, lecturers’ knowledge, and future interest in DSM. For each university dental school, only one questionnaire should be completed by the student council and the managing director. A scoring system assessed lecturers’ knowledge based on clinical experience and qualifications. Descriptive data and correlation coefficients were calculated ( P  < 0.05). Results The responses of 24 lecturers (80%) and 28 students (93.3%) could be evaluated. DSM was reported to be included in the curriculum by 14 lecturers (58.3%) and 4 students (14.3%). Mean teaching hours per semester were 1.4 ± 1.4 h (lecturers) and 0.2 ± 0.6 h (students) accordingly. Greater knowledge of lecturers in DSM was positively correlated with the inclusion of DSM in the curriculum ( P  = 0.022) and with the number of teaching hours per semester ( P  = 0.001). Conclusion Postgraduate education and incorporating DSM knowledge into undergraduate education (“Teach the Teacher”) seems to play a key role in fundamentally training future dentists in this field.