Journal of dental education
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Comparative Study
Dental students' self-assessment of operative preparations using CAD/CAM: a preliminary analysis.
The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)'s accreditation standards for dental schools state that "graduates must demonstrate the ability to self-assess." Therefore, dental schools have developed preclinical and clinical self-assessment (SA) protocols aimed at fostering a reflective process. This study comparing students' visual SA with students' digital SA and with faculty assessment was designed to test the hypothesis that higher agreement would occur when utilizing a digital evaluation. Twenty-five first-year dental students at one dental school participated by preparing a mesial occlusal preparation on tooth #30 and performing both types of SAs. ⋯ The results showed statistically significant moderate agreement between the faculty visual and faculty digital modes of evaluation for occlusal shape (K=0.507, p=0.002), proximal shape (K=0.564, p=0.001), orientation (K=0.425, p=0.001), and definition (K=0.480, p=0.001). There was slight to poor agreement between the student visual and faculty visual assessment, except for preparation orientation occlusal shape (K=0.164, p=0.022), proximal shape (K=-0.227, p=0.032), orientation (K=0.253, p=0.041), and definition (K=-0.027, p=0.824). This study showed that the students had challenges in self-assessing even when using CAD/CAM and the digital assessment did not improve the amount of student/faculty agreement.
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The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry has implemented a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded program to prepare dentists for the complex and comprehensive needs of pediatric patients within rapidly changing demographics and a paradigm shift in dentistry. Traditional dental education has focused on how to respond to oral disease, whereas UCLA's program shifts the paradigm to emphasize early assessment, risk-based prevention, and disease management. A holistic approach to dental care that considers social and environmental determinants is used with minimally invasive techniques for restorative care. ⋯ These new elements teach residents to recognize the causal factors of disease and to identify interventions that promote oral health at the individual, family, community, and policy level. Consequently, they are better prepared to treat a diverse group of patients who historically have faced the greatest burden of disease as well as an increased number of barriers to accessing oral health care; these consist of low-income, minority, and/or pediatric populations including children with special health needs. The program's ultimate goal is for residents to deploy these skills in treating vulnerable populations and to demonstrate greater interest in collaborating with non-dental health providers and community organizations to increase access to dental services in private or public health practice settings.
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This Point/Counterpoint article discusses the pros and cons of deploying one aspect of instructional technology in dental education: the use of laptops in the classroom. Two opposing viewpoints, written by different authors, evaluate the arguments. Viewpoint 1 argues that laptops in classrooms can be a catalyst for rapid curricular advancement and prepare dental graduates for the digital age of dentistry. ⋯ For laptop use to contribute to student learning, rather than simply providing opportunity for students to take notes and access the Internet during class, this viewpoint emphasizes that dental educators need to think carefully about the purpose of this technology and to develop appropriate pedagogical strategies to achieve their objectives. The two viewpoints agree that significant faculty development efforts should precede any introduction of technology into the educational process and that technology alone cannot change education. While the first viewpoint emphasizes the pivotal role of technology in bringing dental education into the contemporary digital world, the second viewpoint focuses on challenges surrounding laptop usage in the classroom including the alignment of instructional methods with learning objectives.
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One of the ways dental education is changing the way it is preparing the next generation of learners is through efficient utilization of interactive social media. Social media, which facilitates interaction and sharing of new ideas, is being utilized to educate students, residents, and faculty. Unfortunately, as with most improvements in technology, there are growing pains. ⋯ The concepts of free speech and contract law and how each is applied in educational settings should be understood by students, faculty, and administrators. This article provides a review of legal cases that led to current social media policies, as well as present-day cases that exemplify the application of these principles, to help dental educators gain a greater understanding of the boundaries of protected speech. It also provides a set of sample guidelines for communicating through these media.
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The aims of this study were to analyze the administrative trends in U. S. dental schools at the beginning and end of a thirteen-year period and to identify the predictive factors for those changes. Administrative trends were measured by the difference in the number of major administrative positions for 1997 and 2010 reported in American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and American Dental Association (ADA) publications. ⋯ The number of all departments per U. S. dental school significantly decreased in this period. The schools that had consolidation of clinical science departments were less likely to have increases in student enrollment and out-of-state tuition, but more likely to have increases in in-state tuition.