Current Status of Postdoctoral and Graduate Programs in Dentistry.

Advanced dental education has evolved in the context of societal needs and economic trends to its current status. Graduate programs have positioned their role in the context of health systems and health science education trends in hospitals, interprofessional clinical care teams, and dental schools and oral health care systems. Graduate dental education has been a critical factor in developing teams in trauma care, craniofacial disorders, pediatric and adult medicine, and oncology. The misalignment of the mission of graduate dental programs and the demands of private practice has posed a challenge in the evolution of programs as educational programs have been directed towards tertiary and indigent care while the practice community focuses on largely healthy affluent patients for complex clinical interventions. Those seeking graduate dental education today are smaller in number and include more international dental graduates than in the past. Graduate dental education in general dentistry and in the nine recognized dental specialties now includes Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) recognition of training standards as part of its accreditation process and a CODA accreditation process for areas of clinical education not recognized as specialties by the American Dental Association. Current types of programs include fellowship training for students in recognized specialties. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century."

Hypoxia-based strategies for regenerative dentistry-Views from the different dental fields.

The understanding of the cell biological processes underlying development and regeneration of oral tissues leads to novel regenerative approaches. Over the past years, knowledge on key roles of the hypoxia-based response has become more profound. Based on these findings, novel regenerative approaches for dentistry are emerging, which target cellular oxygen sensors. These approaches include hypoxia pre-conditioning and pharmacologically simulated hypoxia. The increase in studies on hypoxia and hypoxia-based strategies in regenerative dentistry highlights the growing attention to hypoxia's role in regeneration and its underlying biology, as well as its application in a therapeutic setting. In this narrative review, we present the current knowledge on the role of hypoxia in oral tissues and review the proposed hypoxia-based approaches in different fields of dentistry, including endodontics, orthodontics, periodontics, and oral surgery.

Una experiencia preclínica de enseñanza y aprendizaje en una carrera de especialización en endodoncia / A pre-clinical teaching and learning experiencein a specialization program in endodontics

Objetivo: desarrollar una estrategia para la enseñanza yel aprendizaje, que pueda derivar en una nueva metodología deevaluación individual y grupal de los procedimientos pre clínicosen la Carrera de Especialización en Endodoncia de la Universidad del Salvador / Asociación Odontológica Argentina. Materiales y métodos: Se llevaron a cabo dos experiencias pre clínicas donde cada alumno realizó un tratamiento endodóntico en dientes humanos unir radiculares extraídos, alinicio del curso preclínico –con los saberes y las destrezas previos–y al finalizar. Se consignaron y evaluaron 19 errores procedimentales.Los datos fueron analizados mediante la pruebano paramétrica del signo de Wilcoxon, con un valor de p≤0,05. Resultados: En la primera experiencia se constataron 63errores procedimentales, y en la segunda, 14. Entre la valoracióninicial y la final se hallaron diferencias significativasen las variables procesamiento radiográfico (α=0,014), apertura cameral exagerada (α=0,0013), alteración dela anatomía (α=0,05), pérdida de la longitud de trabajo(α=0,007), falta de adaptación del cono principal(α=0,008), y falta de compactación lateral (α=0,008).En el resto de las variables analizadas no se encontraron diferencias significativas. El índice de la mejoríaindividual fue del 50 al 100%, y el grupal, del 78,7%. Conclusiones: De acuerdo con los resultados obtenidosen esta experiencia, podría considerarse que la propuestapedagógica resultó válida para los objetivos planteados.

Aim: to develop a strategy for teaching and learning, which may lead to a new methodology for individual and group evaluation of pre clinical procedures in the Specialization Course in Endodontics of the Universidad del Salvador /Asociación Odontológica Argentina. Materials and methods: Two preclinical experiments were carried out where each student performed an endodontic treatment in single-rooted extracted human teeth, at the beginningand after finishing the preclinical course with his/herprevious knowledge and skills. Nineteen different proceduralerrors were recorded and evaluated. Wilcoxon’s sign test wasused to compare before and after results setting significanceat p≤0,05. Results: In the initial experiment 63 procedural errors were found and in the second, 14. Between the initial and final evaluations, significant differences were found in thevariables radiographic processing (α=0.014), exaggerated chamber opening (α=0.0013), anatomic form modification(α=0.05), loss of working length (α=0.007), lack of adaptation of the main cone (α=0.008), and lack of lateralcompaction (α=0.008). In the other variables that were evaluated, no significant differences were found. The rateof individual improvement was 50 to 100%, and the group of 78.7%. Conclusions: According to the results obtained in this experience, the pedagogical proposal can be considered to bevalid to reach educational goals.

Current status and expected future direction of the prosthodontic speciality in India. JPS Global Workshop Kyoto 2012.

A person with a basic bachelors degree, BDS, from a college/university recognized by the Dental Council of India (DCI) becomes eligible for a Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) in prosthodontics at a college/university recognized by DCI. For this three (3) years Programme of Master of Dental Surgery course with a dissertation, the student/resident has to go through a syllabus as set by the university and approved by the DCI. The continued official approval/certification thereafter is not present in India but all dentists have to get 20 Continued Education points every year for renewal of their DCI registration (though it's only on trial basis right now). Although prosthodontists are officially approved in India but still the common man does not recognize who a prosthodontist is because of lack of awareness. Most general dentists do their prosthetic work themselves, only a small number of them ask for a prosthodontist. Referral to another office is rare, usually the prosthodontist visits the GP's office for consultation and treatment. There is undoubtedly need of continuous certification/evaluation system of the prosthodontists and so is the need of making the masses aware of presence and role of such specialists in India. The Indian Prosthodontic Society is taking initiative to address this issue.

Trends and attitudes regarding head and neck oncologic surgery: a survey of United States oral and maxillofacial surgery programs.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to: 1) estimate the prevalence and trends of American oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) programs in recruiting head and neck oncologic surgery (HNOS) -trained faculty, performing HNOS oncologic procedures and microvascular reconstruction, and presenting HNOS research at academic meetings; 2) estimate whether HNOS and microvascular reconstruction involvement varies among programs with or without a program director or chair trained in HNOS; 3) estimate whether HNOS involvement varies among those OMS programs that regularly attend and do not attend tumor board; 4) estimate whether HNOS involvement varies among those programs that have and have not presented HNOS research at an academic meeting; 5) estimate whether HNOS involvement varies among doctor of medicine-integrated and 4-year OMS programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Investigators developed and distributed a survey to all US OMS program directors and/or chair composed of questions regarding faculty prevalence and recruitment, frequency and trends in cases, and the priority of applicants for residency with regard to HNOS. There were 18 close-ended questions, and one open-ended question. Responses were recorded in categorical, Likert, ordinal, and numerical format. Bivariate associations were calculated using Fisher exact test and logistic regression. RESULTS: Sixty-three of 101 surveys were returned (62.3%). Ten program directors or chair completed a fellowship in HNOS (15.9%). Programs with an HNOS-trained program director or chair were more likely to have another HNOS-trained faculty member (P = .01), performed more malignant tumor resections (P < .001), neck dissections (P < .001), and microvascular free-flap reconstructions (P = .02) than programs without program directors or chair trained in HNOS. Programs that regularly attended tumor board performed an increasing number of malignant tumor resections (P = .008); and neck dissections (P = .003) than programs that did not regularly attend their institution's tumor board. Presentations of HNOS-related research at national meetings did not differ between doctor of medicine-integrated and 4-year OMS programs (P = .7). There was no difference in the prevalence of HNOS-trained program directors and chair between doctor of medicine-integrated and 4-year programs (P = .7). CONCLUSIONS: This study's data and comments suggest that programs involved in HNOS have a strong involvement in expanded scope OMS and related academic activities.

La interdisciplinariedad como camino para la superación de la especialización / Interdisciplinary work as a way for overcoming specialization

En este trabajo nos acercamos al área de nuestro interés, el de la salud, para tratar de instalar la reflexión en torno a la problemática de la interdisciplinariedad. Pretendemos lograr que, sobre esta base, se dé un proceso de concientización para el abordaje de cuestiones complejas en este campo. Entendiendo que la súper especialización constituye una traba, tanto para la adquisición de nuevos conocimientos como para una mejor atención a los pacientes, apuntamos a encontrar los medios para su superación, vislumbrando que la misma podría ser posible mediante el trabajo interdisciplinario. Entendemos que es preciso desarrollar capacidades nuevas para realizar este trabajo. Proponemos algunas de estas capacidades como respuesta a la pregunta de ¿cuál es el camino?