Journal of dental education
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The purpose of this study was to identify organizational characteristics of dental schools that relate to research productivity. Published data on 53 U. S. dental schools comprised the seven predictor variables. ⋯ Using stepwise multiple regression, it was found that three of the variables predicted 34 percent of the variance in SRP: (1) level of NIDR funding, R2 = .28; (2) student/faculty ratio, R2 = .31, and (3) number of library books, R2 = .337. An ANOVA was conducted between source of basic science instruction and SRP and revealed that the use of medical school faculty to teach basic science courses for dental students had the strongest positive relationship to SRP. The "ideal" combination of dental school characteristics associated with research productivity was $420,000 or more in NIDR funds, a student/faculty ratio of 4.75 or less, a dental library with at least 10,000 dental-related books, and the use of medical school faculty to teach basic science courses.
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The purpose of this research was to identify the characteristics of the active research producer within dental schools. A survey was mailed to 4,901 full-time faculty members in 53 U. S. dental schools, of which 1,481 (31 percent) were returned. ⋯ Using stepwise multiple regression, five variables predicted 38 percent of the variance in FRP: Interest in Research, Earned Ph. D., Number of Journal Subscriptions, Consulting Time Per Week, and Research Time Per Week. While the relationship between FRP and student contact time was linear (the more articles produced the less student contact time), time spent in teaching per week did not enter the prediction equation.
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A survey of predoctoral pediatric dentistry programs in American dental schools was conducted to determine the extent of didactic and clinical training in pediatric conscious sedation. Fifty-four of 59 programs (92 percent) returned usable surveys. The results indicated that there exists a wide range of teaching practices, both in numbers and types of sedations experienced. ⋯ Predoctoral programs without an affiliated postdoctoral program were much more likely to practice conscious sedation than those that trained postdoctoral students. The reason most frequently listed for the nonuse of sedation in the predoctoral clinic was philosophical opposition to pharmacological management at this level of training. A majority of the respondents believed that improved monitoring practices and documentation of cases would result from the recent adoption by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry of guidelines for conscious sedation.
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This paper describes a curriculum project designed to help dental students identify, reason about, and adequately resolve ethical problems in their chosen profession. The project involved application of a theoretical approach to the study of ethical development that had not been applied previously in professional education. Tests were designed to measure the abilities defined by the theory and used to evaluate the program and to monitor student progress. ⋯ A program of research and development has been established to study the influence of this curriculum on the abilities defined, and to link them to clinical performance. Half of the dental schools in the United States have requested these materials. Suggestions are made to professional schools considering expanding the teaching of ethics.
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This study was designed to determine whether mental imagery ability improves through mental practice, and whether mental imagery practice can help students learn to administer intraoral local anesthetics. Pre- and post-test measures of imagery ability and first and final measures of performance in local anesthetic administration were examined in dental hygiene students. ⋯ There were, however, significant correlations between imagery ability and clinical performance for the combined groups. Mental imagery ability improved with practice and appeared to assist in learning the technique of intraoral local anesthetic administration.