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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.

Research in the context of the dental school has traditionally been focused on institutional/faculty accomplishments and generating new knowledge to benefit the profession. Only recently have significant efforts been made to expand the overall research programming into the formal dental curriculum, to provide students with a baseline exposure to the research and critical thinking processes, encourage evidence-based decision-making, and stimulate interest in academic/research careers. Various approaches to curriculum reform and the establishment of multiple levels of student research opportunities are now part of the educational fabric of many dental schools worldwide. Many of the preliminary reports regarding the success and vitality of these programs have used outcomes measures and metrics that emphasize cultural changes within institutions, student research productivity, and student career preferences after graduation. However, there have not been any reports from long-standing programs (a minimum of 25 years of cumulative data) that describe dental school graduates who have had the benefit of research/training experiences during their dental education. The University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry initiated a BSc Dent program in 1980 that awarded a formal degree for significant research experiences taking place within the laboratories of the Faculty-based researchers and has continued to develop and expand this program. The success of the program has been demonstrated by the continued and increasing demands for entry, the academic achievements of the graduates, and the numbers of graduates who have completed advanced education/training programs or returned to the Faculty as instructors. Analysis of our long-term data validates many recent hypotheses and short-term observations regarding the benefits of dental student research programs. This information may be useful in the design and implementation of dental student research programs at other dental schools.

Background Teledentistry has been increasingly used in orthodontic practice. Comprehensive and appropriate trainings should be required to enhance the effective use of teledentistry. However, there is still a lack of adequate teledentistry training in postgraduate orthodontic programs. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding the necessity of teledentistry and to formulate a conceptual framework highlighting the implementation of teledentistry training in orthodontic education. Methods This research employed an explanatory sequential mixed-method design. The research participants included orthodontic instructors, practitioners, and residents from the Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University. The participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire to provide initial overview of this topic. They were then purposively selected and recruited for a semi-structured interview, allowing the exploration of in-depth information. Results Participants expressed positive perceptions toward the use of teledentistry in orthodontic practice. The conceptual framework derived from this study highlighted awareness of both advantages and concerns of teledentistry among participants, leading to the necessity of training in orthodontic education. The findings also provided in-depth information regarding expected learning outcomes, a combination of training delivery and assessment strategies to adequately prepare learners for the use of teledentistry in orthodontic practice. Conclusion This study supports the implementation of teledentistry into orthodontic practice, with participants recognizing both its benefits and concerns. Emphasizing the significance of incorporating teledentistry preparation into orthodontic curricula, it is essential to outline expected learning outcomes, delivery methods, and assessment strategies for effective training.

This is a global study that evaluated the undergraduate endodontic curriculum in dental schools worldwide. An online questionnaire sent to faculty members involved in undergraduate endodontic teaching at 50 dental institutions across six continents. The questionnaire was a modified version of previously validated survey comprised of 46 questions in three sections on essential aspects of the didactic, preclinical (PT), clinical trainings (CT), and assessments in undergraduate endodontic programs. The response rate was 76%. 63.2% of schools have a separate preclinical course, with 65.8% having a dedicated clinical area. Traditional methods dominate, with 84.2% using phantom heads and 78.9% using natural extracted teeth. The student-to-staff ratio for clinical training ranges from 1:6 to 1:9, with most supervisors specializing in endodontics (76.3%). Lectures and practical sessions are the primary teaching methods. Non-surgical root canal treatment (RCT) is the most common procedure (94.7%), and the majority use stainless steel or rotary nickel-titanium files. Cold lateral compaction is the preferred obturation technique globally (81.6%), except in North America. Advanced technologies like magnifying systems and ultrasonic instruments are rarely used in training. The conclusion emphasizes the need for global standardization and adoption of modern techniques to enhance the quality of endodontic education and care.

The present work suggests research and innovation on the topic of dental education after the COVID-19 pandemic, is highly justified and could lead to a step change in dental practice. The challenge for the future in dentistry education should be revised with the COVID-19 and the possibility for future pandemics, since in most countries dental students stopped attending the dental faculties as there was a general lockdown of the population. The dental teaching has an important curriculum in the clinic where patients attend general dentistry practice. However, with SARS-CoV-2 virus, people may be reluctant having a dental treatment were airborne transmission can occur in some dental procedures. In preclinical dental education, the acquisition of clinical, technical skills, and the transfer of these skills to the clinic are extremely important. Therefore, dental education has to adapt the curriculum to embrace new technology devices, instrumentations systems, haptic systems, simulation based training, 3D printer machines, to permit validation and calibration of the technical skills of dental students.

Future health professionals, including dentists, must critically engage with digital health technologies to enhance patient care. While digital health is increasingly being integrated into the curricula of health professions, its interpretation varies widely depending on the discipline, health care setting, and local factors. This viewpoint proposes a structured set of domains to guide the designing of a digital health curriculum tailored to the unique needs of dentistry in Australia. The paper aims to share a premise for curriculum development that aligns with the current evidence and the national digital health strategy, serving as a foundation for further discussion and implementation in dental programs.

AbstractOral health is vital to overall well-being but faces significant global challenges, necessitating reform in dental education. Global oral health education empowers professionals to address these issues, promoting global competencies,s and preventive approaches. The objective was to map scientific articles that approach global oral health education, its practical reality, and curricular inclusion in undergraduate dental programs. This study is a scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute’s approach, with searches in databases such as PubMed and SciELO using the keywords “global health” and “education, dental,” along with the Boolean operator AND. After excluding studies outside of the scope of the research and duplicate articles, 26 articles were selected for analysis. Among the analyzed articles, the need to further discuss the following topics was observed: trends and challenges in global dental education, oral health inequalities and the need for global approaches, and the integrating global health into the dental curriculum. The reviewed studies highlight the importance of adapting curricula to global needs, emphasizing the integration of oral health into global health policies and the promotion of interprofessional competencies. The review underscores the need to internationalize dental education and prepare future dentists to address oral health inequalities, with global partnerships and interprofessional collaboration being essential for the success of these initiatives. The conclusion shows that global oral health education should include preventive and interdisciplinary approaches, preparing professionals for global challenges. This requires integrating global health competencies into curricula and promoting international collaborations in dental education.

Stomatology education has experienced substantial transformations over recent decades. Nevertheless, a comprehensive summary encompassing the entirety of this field remains absent in the literature. This study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the research status, current focus, and emerging trends in this field over the last two decades. We retrieved publications concerning teaching and learning in stomatology education from the Web of Science core collection covering the period from 2003 to 2023. Subsequently, we conducted a bibliometric analysis and visualization using R-Bibliometrix and CiteSpace. In total, 5528 publications focusing on teaching and learning in stomatology education were identified. The annual number of publications in this field has shown a consistent upward trend. The United States and the United Kingdom emerged as the leading contributors to research. Among academic institutions, the University of Iowa produced the highest number of publications. The Journal of Dental Education was identified as the journal with the highest citation. Wanchek T authored the most highly cited articles in the field. Emerging research hotspots were characterized by keywords such as \"deep learning,\" \"machine learning,\" \"online learning,\" \"virtual reality,\" and \"convolutional neural network.\" The thematic map analysis further revealed that \"surgery\" and \"accuracy\" were categorized as emerging themes. The visualization bibliometric analysis of the literature clearly depicts the current hotspots and emerging topics in stomatology education concerning teaching and learning. The findings are intended to serve as a reference to advance the development of stomatology education research globally.

In recent years, advocates for increasing access to medical and oral health care have argued for expanding the scope of practice of dentists and physicians. Although this idea may have merit, significant legal and other barriers stand in the way of allowing dentists to do more primary health care, physicians to do more oral health care, and both professions to collaborate. State practice acts, standards of care, and professional school curricula all support the historical separation between the 2 professions. Current laws do not contemplate working across professional boundaries, leaving providers who try vulnerable to legal penalties. Here we examine the legal, regulatory, and training barriers to dental and medical professionals performing services outside their traditional scope of practice.

Background The future of dental education is at crossroads. This study used the parameter of the 2016 Dental Curriculum Hack-a-Thon to assess intra- and inter-institutional agreement between student and faculty views regarding dental curriculums to determine if there is an impact in student perceptions towards dental education from before and after the event. Methods This exploratory, cross-sectional study involved two surveys, with Survey 1 being distributed among four faculty-student pairs of the four participating dental schools answering 14 questions. Survey 2 assessed the views of 20 participating dental students through 26 questions in a pre- and post- event survey design. Descriptive statistics were used to explore differences in perceptions towards dental education across both instrument surveys. Results The results revealed valuable student insights regarding intra- and inter-institutional agreement relevant for the change in dental curriculum that needs to occur. Survey 2 revealed that mandatory attendance in didactic courses, electronic based examination preferences, and the preference of preclinical courses being held in the first and second years of a four-year dental curriculum were of particular importance to student participants. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that exposure and participation in subjects pertaining to dental education can be influential on student preferences and opinions on how dental education should be delivered in a four-year curriculum.