Dental care education programs

The clinical program functions year round to provide continuity of patient care. Elective clerkships allow selected fourth year students to pursue further studies in departmental activities specially designed to meet their needs and interests.

Students devote a portion of their clinic time to these specialized programs; the remaining clinic time is spent in the comprehensive treatment of patients in the regular program. Clerkships are available in basic science and clinical disciplines, and several incorporate off-campus clinical experiences in various practice settings. Third- and fourth-year dental students are provided the opportunity to register for elective courses which cover a wide range of topics.

Electives are offered during the fall and spring terms. Search Patient Education Materials. Children's Dental Health Month Looking for information to educate children about the importance of oral health? Conversational Spanish. These online handbooks will aid professionals in communicating basic concepts, instructions, and information to Spanish-speaking patients.

Conversational Spanish in Pediatric Dentistry. Five studies were conducted in schools, one in orphanages, one in clubs, one in a workplace and one in a hospital setting. Five studies received funding. Six studies received additional support. Six studies provided education in the form of instructions, whereas the other studies used a combination of demonstrations, video and printed matter.

Three studies provided education to individuals whereas the others provided education to groups. The oral health education was around 20 min. Health promotion was provided in three studies. Oral prophylaxis was provided in studies done by Freitas-Fernandes et al.

Ten studies[ 4 , 8 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] were effective in improving the reduction in plaque, one study did not show any statistically significant improvement. Studies by Almas et al. The study by Almas et al. The study which was done by Frencken et al. The study did not show any improvement in caries increment when compared with the control group [ Table 3 ].

Seven studies[ 8 , 13 , 22 , 23 , 27 , 28 , 30 ] evaluated the effectiveness of their studies through bleeding on probing of the gingiva. The sample size ranged from 42 to The case group ranged from 14 to participants. Two studies were conducted in children, one in adolescents, one in children and adolescents two in adults and one in Chilean refugees.

The follow-up period ranged from 1 month to 3 years. Four studies targeted children and adolescents and three adults.

Two studies were done in low socio economic groups. And a study by Freitas-Fernandes et al. Professionals provided oral health education in all the studies. The setting was a school in three studies, a workplace in one and an orphanage in one and a club in another. Funding and additional support was provided in studies done by Lim et al.

Education in the form of instructions was given in all studies, along with a combination of printed matter, demonstrations and videos. The training time ranged from 15 to 45 min.

All the studies were effective. Study done by Zimmerman et al. Freitas-Fernandes et al. Funding and additional support was received. Nine studies[ 14 , 15 , 21 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] showed effectiveness through caries increment. The sample in the studies ranged from as low as 81 to 12, participants. The case group ranged from 43 to 12, participants.

The oral health education population ranged from school children, adolescents to teachers and mothers. The follow-up period ranged from 12 months to 6 years. Study done by Blair et al. All the studies targeted either children or adolescents. In the study done by Guennadi et al. Seven studies were done in a school setting, one at home and one at a health center.

Five studies had received funding and additional support [ Table 9 ]. All the studies had used instructions to educate the population; some gave printed material to participants while a study by Vachirarojpisan et al. Oral health promotion was provided in seven studies. Axelsson et al. Five studies showed a significant decrease in the caries increment. The results of four other studies were not significant. A study by Blair et al. Rong et al. Education was done in groups using video and demonstrations.

Funding and additional support was provided for the study. The salient features of this study were that it involved significant others like teachers and parents in the program. This showed a significant improvement in practice though. For most of this century, dental health education has been considered to be an important and integral part of dental health services and has been delivered to individuals and groups in settings such as dental practice schools, the workplace and day-care and residential settings for older adults etc.

The educational interventions used have varied considerably, from the simple provision of information to the use of complex programs involving psychological and behavior change strategies.

The goals of the interventions have also been broad and hence knowledge, attitude, intentions, beliefs, behaviors, use of dental services and oral health status have all been targeted for change. These efforts are testimony to dentistry is long-standing and perhaps pioneering concern with the prevention of oral disease via changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors and the adoption of healthier life-styles.

However, the increasing pressure on health care resources means that questions are being raised about the costs and effectiveness of all forms of health service provision. This is also the case with respect to preventive interventions since they have long been presumed to reduce disease and therefore lower the demand for health services and the resultant costs. Answers to questions concerning the effectiveness of health education will tell us whether or not it is worth doing and if so, what works best under what circumstances.

Data from well-designed evaluation studies also have a role to play in the further development of these kinds of interventions. Over the past few years, a substantial literature has emerged describing studies purporting to evaluate the effectiveness of various types and combinations of educational and behavior modification techniques. A set of coding variables were drawn under which the articles were reviewed to make them amenable for coding, these coding variables were then described under various subheadings so as to allow us to compare articles based on these coding variables:.

These coding criteria were drawn so as to identify variables or factors which have contributed or influenced the effectiveness of the program. Attempting to summarize the results of studies was difficult as different outcome measures were used.

Most of the studies did not quantify the effectiveness and mentioned only if the results were significant or not. Similar to the present study Kay and Locker[ 37 ] in their systematic review of oral health education programs faced the problem of summarizing their results due to the differences in which outcomes were measured and reported. However, it is possible that relevant data may be included in these journals and inclusion of these articles could have thrown a better light on the effectiveness of the oral health programs.

A manual search in libraries of the research colleges was just limited to Bangalore, instead extending to the whole of India could have been done but the non-availability of funds crippled the study. Furthermore, conference proceedings, dissertations and government reports are excluded from Medline and important information will undoubtedly be overlooked with a limited search strategy such as that used in the current study.

Out of total of 40 articles 13 articles evaluated the effectiveness of the program through improvement in knowledge, 4 through change in attitude, 15 through improvement in oral health related practices, 8 through improvement in gingival health, 11 through reduction in plaque, 8 through reduction in bleeding on probing, 9 evaluated the caries increment and 9 used other outcome variables to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. All studies showed an improvement in knowledge, no matter what design, sample, organizational or interventional variables were used.

Oral health education was effective in all sample sizes which ranged from as low as 14 to , among all age groups and even over long evaluation periods like 3 years in a study done by Buischi et al. Health education was given in the form of instructions, demonstration of oral hygiene practices, group discussions and lectures.

Other than oral health education only one study by Tai et al. Since quantitative estimates of the effectiveness were not given for all the studies it is difficult to list out the factors that would contribute to a successful program. Brown who had reviewed 57 such studies published between and concluded that dental health education was less effective in changing the knowledge of the participants when compared to change in practice. Kay and Locker[ 37 ] who reviewed 14 studies published between and concluded that knowledge could be improved through dental health education.

The results of the present study are consistent with this study, which also concludes that oral health education is effective in improving the knowledge of the participants. Oral health education was shown to be effective in changing the attitude of adolescents and the elderly, even after a follow-up period of 6 years there was a significant change in attitude as shown in the study done by Tai et al.

This review shows that change in attitude is possible in teenagers through a sustained oral health education program. Brown who had reviewed 57 such studies published between and concluded that dental health education was less effective in changing the attitude of the participants when compared to change in practice.

Kay and Locker[ 37 ] who reviewed 14 studies published between and concluded that attitude could be improved through dental health education. The results of the present study are consistent with this study, which also concludes that oral health education is effective in improving the attitude of the participants. Oral health education in a range of sample sizes were effective in improving oral health related practices. Studies were more effective when oral health education is targeted towards children and when significant others are involved.

Studies by Alsada et al. Studies which received funding and additional support were more effective. Brown who had reviewed 57 such studies published between and concluded that dental health education was less effective in improving behaviors of the participants which is not consistent with the results of the present study which showed that oral health education improves the behavior of the participants. Vision: To excel, continuing as a regional leader in affordable and integrated oral care by providing the highest standards in quality and professionalism.

Mission: to provide superior oral health care services to demanding clients by maintaining our commitment to invest in human resources and the latest technology, ensuring our leading edge in the dental profession. We always adhere to our core values in order to achieve our vision and mission.