Variability between credit units dedicated to dental and clinical sciences in dental schools across the USA

PurposeThe Commission of Dental Accreditation (CODA) does not set minimum standards for clock hours of training in Dental and Clinical sciences. The purpose of this evaluation was to compare United States (US) dental schools for variability in clock hours. The current paper utilizes the American Dental Association’s survey of clock hours of all US dental schools which is publicly available data. Clock hours survey from 2010 to 2011 was utilized and the analysis tool, JMP, was utilized to visualize and report variability.PerspectiveThe current paper highlights the large variation in clock hours of training among core clinical subjects in accredited dental schools around the United States. For example, teaching Physical Evaluations; Oral and Maxillofacial; and Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Planning were 97.0; 126.6; and 74.4 h. Moreover, upper limit for hours of Operative Dentistry teaching was 1410 h and lower limit was 129 h. Various other fields of education do enforce strict requirements on educational clock hours. For instance, Massachusetts’ General Law states that both private and public schools must have 900 and 990 h in a school year for elementary and secondary schools, respectively. However, no such stipulation exists in the field of Dental Education. CODA’s mission is “to serve the oral health care needs of the public” and CODA must consider if the average dental patient would consider a dentist who attended the school delivering 1410 h of Operative Dentistry to be the same standard as a graduate of the school delivering 129 h.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138359/1/jicd12229.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138359/2/jicd12229_am.pd

Diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions to support admissions have had little benefit to Black students over past 20 years

The United States has a history of systemic racism and violence toward minority communities. Unfortunately, the last year has demonstrated that systemic racism, and its consequences, persist. The dental profession has also failed to adequately resolve known issues of racial inequity and systemic racism, with persistent disparities in oral health outcomes for Black Americans compared to all other Americans, underrepresentation of minorities in the profession, and barriers to entry. However, dental education has the opportunity to address these issues. Current accreditation standards do not specifically address racial diversity among the student body, yet it is clear that representation of a population matters and the lack of representation may exacerbate race and racism as public health issues in dentistry.To explore the issue, we curated American Dental Education Association (ADEA) data on the race of students admitted and enrolled into dental programs across the United States. We used data visualization techniques to present the data and study trends.While the number of Black and African American (BAA) enrollees in dental schools has increased between 2000 and 2019, this population continues to make up a disproportionately small percentage of all enrollees, relative to the BAA percentage in the U.S. population. Much of the increase in BAA enrollment is attributable to increased places (due to the opening of new schools and increased class size in established schools) and the rate of acceptance of BAA students has had limited improvement.Very little progress has been accomplished in growing the enrollment of BAA applicants to dental school in 20 years. As a profession, we also fail to grow interest among our graduates in careers that may support historically underrepresented and marginalized racial groups—public health, rural practice, population research, academia, and health policy. This may be a contributing factor to the oral health disparities faced by Black Americans and have implications for dental education.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167551/1/jdd12611_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167551/2/jdd12611.pd

Coaching that helps International Dentists successfully matriculate into Advanced Standing programs in the US

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/171169/1/jdd12547_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/171169/2/jdd12547.pd

Reaching Vulnerable Populations through Portable and Mobile Dentistry—Current and Future Opportunities

The Action for Dental Health Act of 2017 bill is intended to prevent dental disease and divert dental emergencies from high-cost centers (like hospital emergency rooms) to dental offices. Lines 15–17 of the bill include grant funding to support portable or mobile dental equipment, and this should lead to an expansion of opportunities to deliver and receive care through the use of portable dental equipment and mobile dental vans, i.e., portable and mobile dentistry (PMD). Historically, PMD has been valuable to bridge the access gap for those for whom transport can be a challenge, like children and the elderly. However, PMD could be valuable to large employers, allowing the employees to receive dental care with minimal disruption to their workday. Oral pain is known to affect work and school attendance, and improving access to dental care could benefit individuals, families, organizations, and communities

Characteristics of Patients Discontinuing Care

Objectives: Due to lower fees, dental school clinics (DSCs) may provide dental care for vulnerable populations. This study evaluates factors associated with patients deciding to discontinue care at a DSC. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of a patient transfer form that was implemented to smooth transition of a patient when their student provider graduated. Forms provided deidentified information about characteristics and unmet dental needs. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to identify associations between patient characteristics and deciding to continue treatment in the student practice. Results: Of 1894 patients, 73.4% continued care. Financial limitations were most commonly reported as the reason for discontinuing care (30.1%). Patients speaking a language other than English or who had reported financial barriers were significantly less likely to continue care. Conclusions: Dental school patients from vulnerable groups are more likely to discontinue care. Dental schools should implement programs that will assist patients in maintaining a dental home