Journal of dental education
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The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children have their first dental visit no later than age one. However, not all dental schools have made hands-on infant oral health programs a reality in their predoctoral programs. To target high-caries risk infants/toddlers and provide dental students more hands-on experience with this age group, the University of Iowa Department of Pediatric Dentistry established an Infant Oral Health Program (IOHP) affiliated with the local Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic. ⋯ More than 600 fourth-year dental students received hands-on experience providing preventive dental care for infants and toddlers. A 2004 survey of dentists who graduated from the University of Iowa suggested that those who rotated at the IOHP while in dental school were more willing to see very young children when compared to dentists who did not rotate at the IOHP. These findings suggest that community-based IOHPs can provide an important community resource for preventive dental care for high-caries risk young children, while complementing the pediatric dental experience in a dental school curriculum.
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The University of Colorado Denver School of Dental Medicine has operated a community-based dental education program for all of its students since 1985. A database of student productivity has been maintained in a standardized format, capable of multiyear compilation, since 1994. This study utilizes twelve years of these data to profile the type and amount of clinical treatment that can be provided by a typical fourth-year dental student during a 100-day community-based training experience. ⋯ Self-assessed competency ratings tended to increase after completing the program, as did willingness to treat underserved populations after graduation. About 16 percent of graduates reported planning to practice in the public sector after completing dental school. A community-based experience such as this appears to offer an opportunity to substantially augment dental students' clinical training experiences.