Process, outcome, and impact evaluation of the ohio state university DentPath postbaccalaurate program.

Despite the progress in increasing racial and ethnic diversity in dental school programs in the United States, minority dental students still remain underrepresented when compared with the total population. As a result, dental education programs have been attempting to increase the number of students from underrepresented and underserved communities in their programs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to conduct process, outcome, and impact evaluations of the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Dentistry's (CoDs) DentPath Program. METHODS: Upon Institutional Review Board approval, this study utilized a computer-assisted telephone interview research design of graduates from the OSU CoD DentPath Program. Forty closed and open-ended questions were asked during the structured interview. Descriptive and thematic analyses were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The data from 25 eligible graduates were analyzed, which represented a 100% response rate. Process evaluation revealed 100% (n = 25) of the participants expressed satisfaction with their DentPath experiences and recommendations for improvement were provided. Outcome evaluation revealed the participants treated patients using Medicaid (range: 20%-90%, n = 5) or a sliding scale (range: 5%-85%, n = 3) for payment and 36% (n = 9) of the participants regularly treated underserved populations outside of their regular practice settings. Impact evaluation revealed 68% (n = 17) participants reported the DentPath Program had no impact on their practice location. CONCLUSIONS: Future research is needed to determine methods to promote the transition of DentPath students through dental school and into underserved communities.

Reaching out to meet the needs of many.

The School of Dentistry recognizes the value of outreach experiences in meeting its education and service missions. Patients who have difficulty accessing care are offered a way to get their needs met. Students gain clinical and professional insights that prepare them for their future roles in practice. Such a powerful combination of benefits encourages broad partnerships in our communities. Ultimately, in both the short and long terms, such efforts will go far to address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.

Campus-Based, Community-Based, and Philanthropic Contributions to Predoctoral Pediatric Dental Clinical Education: Two Years of Experiences at One Dental College.

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of a tiered predoctoral pediatric dentistry clinical education model to competency achievement by dental students over a two-year clinical education. Retrospective data were obtained for academic years 2012-13 and 2013-14 from three sources: a campus-based, dental school-housed clinic; division-directed clinics in community-based pediatric and special needs clinics (DDC); and clinics affiliated with the dental college's community-based dental education (CBDE) program, the OHIO Project (OP). A fourth dataset was obtained for the same two-year period from a biannual clinic event held at the college in conjunction with Give Kids a Smile Day (GKAS). Procedures considered essential to the care of children were sorted by 12 dental codes from all services for patients 18 years of age and younger. The dental school clinic provided 11,060 procedures; the DDC, 28,462; the OP, 17,863; and GKAS, 2,028. The two-year total was 59,433 procedures. Numbers of diagnostic and preventive procedures were 19,441, restorative procedures were 13,958, and pulp and surgical procedures were 7,392. Site contribution ranged from 52.2 to 144.9 procedures per attending student, with the DDC yielding the highest per student average for each year (126.4 and 144.9) and the dental school clinic the lowest (52.2 and 53.1). This study found that a combination of school-based, community-based, and philanthropic pediatric dental experiences offered a large number of essential pediatric dentistry experiences for predoctoral dental students, with CBDE opportunities offering the largest contribution.

Users' guide to the dental literature: how to use an article about prognosis.

With the growing need for documented efficacy of treatment and efficiency of rendering care, prosthodontists will serve their patients best when they fully understand the intricacies of clinical research and the results reported. This article proposes a structure for evaluating the literature that pertains to prognosis--the prediction of outcomes and frequency of such occurrences.

Perceptions of dental schools from within and outside the university.

Perceptions of dental schools held by high-level administrators of their parent institutions and officials in the local community have great potential to influence the future of dental education. The intent of this investigation was to gain a preliminary knowledge of such perceptions at seven institutions in the United States and to use this information to formulate hypotheses that can provide the basis for further targeted investigations that provide evidence useful in decision making and planning processes within dental schools. Interviews with university administrators, executive directors of state dental associations, and state government officials in seven areas of the United States were conducted. The hypotheses drawn from these interviews are: 1) dental schools are generally too insular and need to interact more with their parent institutions and external community; 2) dental schools need to systematically and continually get the message of the value of their services out to the public and political constituencies; and 3) multidisciplinarity and integration with other units are important to university administrators but largely outside the concerns of those external to the university. We suggest that these hypotheses form the basis of subsequent, more targeted, follow-up investigations with the intent of formulating specific recommendations for action.

Laboratory fabrication of gold occlusal surfaces for removable and implant-supported prostheses.

This article describes a technique for fabricating prosthetic teeth with gold occlusal surfaces for removable or implant-supported prostheses. Following a successful wax try-in appointment, the denture teeth used in the prosthesis are invested in a denture flask. After deflasking, the gingival 2/3 of the denture teeth are trimmed away. The remaining occlusal portions of the teeth are invested in a gypsum-bonded investment and cast in a type III gold alloy. After polishing, the castings are repositioned back into their respective sites in the flask. An acrylic resin of an appropriate shade is mixed and packed in the flask. Once the acrylic resin is processed to the metal occlusal surfaces, the individual teeth are removed from the flask and polished. Then the finished teeth are reinserted in the wax trial denture, the occlusion is refined, the final wax-up is completed, and the prosthesis is processed.