The Role of Oral Health Care Professionals in Providing Medical Services.

Integration of oral health care professionals (OHCPs) into medical care could advance efforts to control increasingly prevalent conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and hepatitis C infection, each of which is associated with significant morbidity and health care costs. Prevention and early intervention are effective for reducing the incidence and severity of these diseases, while increasing cost of health care may drive the need for nontraditional models of health education and delivery. Studies have suggested that a dental office is a suitable setting for the purpose of screening and referrals for these conditions and may result in medical expenditure savings. Such innovations would challenge the current dental educational model and the education and training of faculty. Implementing this change would require recognizing opportunities and challenges for the profession and the need for new competencies in dental curricula. Challenges and opportunities are described, including reimbursement models and integration of OHCPs into emerging health care delivery models. Ideas for curricular change are presented, including the need for added emphasis on biological sciences and the introduction of new courses to address systems thinking and forces driving preventive behavior. To embrace the evolving health care arena and be a part of the future interprofessional health care delivery dynamic, dental curricula should also include substantive interprofessional education opportunities. Such opportunities would provide the basic skills and training to recognize and appreciate patients' oral health issues in the broader context of their overall health and well-being. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century."

Dentistry at the crossroads.

The dental practice pattern is shifting from small dental office to large corporate dental groups. This article analyzes the powers behind this change, and discusses the choices dental practitioners are facing and the reasons why many may choose to work in a corporate practice setting. Dental associations and specialty groups need to reaffirm their mission to provide quality oral health care. Dental treatment should not be viewed as a commodity used to measure corporate profitability.

Current trends in community-based clinical teaching programs in U.K.and Ireland dental schools.

Community-based clinical teaching/outreach programs using a variety of approaches have been established in many predoctoral dental schools around the world. The aim of this article is to report current trends in the teaching of community-based clinical teaching/outreach teaching in dental schools in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In late 2010-early 2011, a questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to deans of the eighteen established dental schools in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The questionnaire included both open and closed questions relating to current and anticipated trends in community-based clinical teaching. Fourteen responses were received (response rate=78 percent). All fourteen responding schools reported inclusion of a community-based clinical teaching program. Ten schools indicated that their program was based on total patient (comprehensive) care including the treatment of child patients. In nine schools, the program is directed by a senior clinical academic in restorative dentistry. As well as student dentists, ten schools and seven schools include teaching of student dental therapists and student dental hygienists, respectively. There is a varied experience within the schools surveyed in terms of the extent, nature, and content of these programs. Overall, however, community-based clinical teaching was seen as part of the future of dental school education in many schools as an ideal way of preparing graduates for Dental Foundation Training and subsequent independent practice.

Clínica integrada da UNIVILLE / Integrated clinics at UNIVILLE: a holistic view

A prática pedagógica das clínicas integradas docurso de odontologia da Universidade da Região deJoinville/SC tem demonstrado uma visão ampliadano conceito de promoção de saúde. Unindo teoria eprática das disciplinas em uma única atividade clínica,promove um aprendizado mais humanista, com possibilidadesde crescimento para alunos e professores.A triagem realizada pelos próprios alunos, embasadosem uma lista crescente de complexidades, exercita odiagnóstico e o planejamento das demandas para oatendimento. O processo de avaliação procura priorizara visão qualitativa enquanto abandona o conceitode “produção mínima” na produção de tarefascomo meta final e referencia o ser humano e sua integralidade

Paradigm shifts in medical and dental education: behavioural sciences and behavioural medicine.

Psychosomatic and behavioural medicine have a long tradition in Hungary. In this paper, we highlight the possibilities of teaching behavioural medicine and behavioural science in the medical and dental curricula, particularly in the field of health promotion and prevention. There are a number of possibilities for dentists in the fields of behavioural science in both research and health policy. There is a need for closer integration of teaching, research and health policy in both general medicine and dentistry, and both doctors and dentists must approach their patients in a holistic way.

Clinical education in dentistry. In light of form & content issues.

Dentistry exists to serve people in need of medical care, with special focus on oral and maxillofacial care. In order to perform at the most optimal level in today's society, dental practitioners must be attuned to and be able to respond to assessed changes in the dental needs of the general population it serves. In what other way can the profession of dentistry meet this need unless future practitioners are given the education and tools, in light of these changes, to do so? With the publication of the Institute of Medicine study on the future of dental education in 1995 and the Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health in 2000, the need for greater integration and collaboration of dental schools with medicine is becoming more apparent. Aside from just expanding the medical content of the curriculum, are there ways to enhance the integration of that medical knowledge into patient-focused comprehensive care in the clinic? Perhaps lessons relating to this question can be gleaned from both the history of dental education and from the medical model of student education.

A new era of dental education at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Dental education is currently under scrutiny in order to most appropriately address community needs for the new millennium. Educational outcomes need to include a commitment to life-long learning, and an emphasis on professional ethics and moral responsibility. These needs are supported by new forms of information delivery with a focus on the electronic media, by student centred and self-directed coursework, and by clinical stimulation. Additionally, at the University of Sydney, selection will follow a first degree. This will allow candidates time for an informed decision to be made for their future professional career and for a period of experience in the tertiary education system.

A fresh look at how dental schools prepare dentists for today's practice.

The current Vice President for Students of the American Dental Education Association and a recent graduate who also completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency looks at dental education in light of the current demands on beginning dental practitioners. He describes the didactic curriculum that incorporates much new material on the changing foundations of health and dental materials and the comprehensive care, competency-based clinical model typical of most schools. He also discusses how debt, community service, practice opportunities, and initial licensure affect recent graduates' perceptions of the profession. He concludes that continuous learning is the obligation of all dentists, regardless of when they may have graduated.

Teaching clinical hypnosis in U.S. and Canadian dental schools.

This paper reports the results of a 1995 survey of the teaching of hypnosis in U.S. and Canadian dental schools. Responses were received from 50 schools (78%). The results are compared with prior surveys by Parrish (1973) and Simpson, Dedmon, Logan and Jakobsen (1980). The number of complete courses in hypnosis increased from 1973 to 1980 but has remained static since then. The number of other courses in which a one to two hour introduction to hypnosis is presented increased from 18% in 1980 to 30% in 1995. However, during approximately that same period (1982-1995) dentist membership in A.S.C.H. dropped from 14.9% to 4.4%. Some commentary on this phenomenon and needed future studies are offered.

NHS dentistry--the road to a better future.

Dentistry in this country is approaching a major cross roads. Although not everyone will take the same route, now is the time to examine the options and identify a way ahead for the majority. This article seeks to examine the history which has led to the numerous changes and pressures evident in dentistry today; it examines the various components and argues that these lead inexorably to certain conclusions.