Critical thinking skills are essential for the successful dentist, yet few explicit skillsets in critical thinking have been developed and published in peer-reviewed literature. The aims of this article are to 1) offer an assessable critical thinking teaching model with the expert's thought process as the outcome, learning guide, and assessment instrument and 2) offer three critical thinking skillsets following this model: for geriatric risk assessment, technology decision making, and situation analysis/reflections. For the objective component, the student demonstrates delivery of each step in the thought process. For the subjective component, the student is judged to have grasped the principles as applied to the patient or case. This article describes the framework and the results of pilot tests in which students in one year at this school used the model in the three areas, earning scores of 90% or above on the assessments. The model was thus judged to be successful for students to demonstrate critical thinking skillsets in the course settings. Students consistently delivered each step of the thought process and were nearly as consistent in grasping the principles behind each step. As more critical thinking skillsets are implemented, a reinforcing network develops.

No abstract

This study investigated current trends of Iowa dental practitioners with regard to acquisition and utilization of scientiic information resources to support decision making in the clinical practice of dentistry. A survey questionnaire regarding the utilization of various sources of information to support clinical decisions was mailed in September 2009 to all dentists licensed and practicing in the state of Iowa. Dentists appointed full-time within the University of Iowa College of Dentistry were excluded from this study. Continuing education courses were the most frequently utilized and preferred information source by respondents, followed by print journals and consultation with other health care professionals. Practice patterns according to decade of dental school graduation as well as scope of practice were noted. The results of this study demonstrate that dental practitioners utilize a variety of evidence-based and non-evidence-based information resources to support decisions in clinical practice. The habits of newer graduates vary somewhat from those of earlier graduates; the habits of specialists vary from those of general practitioners.

Academic dental institutions today seek to provide curricular content and learning opportunities for students to develop an essential skill set for evidence-based practice. To support that effort, studies that explore current practice patterns are valuable in identifying factors that inluence the evidence-based habits and behaviors of dental school graduates. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, and behavior of private practice dentists in the state of Iowa with respect to evidencebased dentistry and to determine the inluence of the dentist's education and the scope of his or her practice on those opinions and habits. A questionnaire addressing practitioners' familiarity with, understanding of, and adoption of an evidence-based philosophy of practice was mailed in September 2009 to all dentists licensed and practicing in Iowa. Questionnaires were returned by 518 practitioners, for an overall response rate of 38.4 percent. The majority of respondents reported awareness, understanding, and adoption of an evidence-based approach to their practice of dentistry. Recent graduates were more likely to report insuficient time as the primary obstacle to practicing evidence-based dentistry. Dental specialists indicated a higher level of comfort in assessing scientiic information, as well as implementing current reliable, valid published research in practice, than did general practitioners.

Introducing critical thinking and evidence-based dentistry (EBD) content into an established dental curriculum can be a dificult and challenging process. Over the past three years, the University of Iowa College of Dentistry has developed and implemented a progressive four-year integrated critical thinking and EBD curriculum. The objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation process to make it available as a model for other dental schools contemplating introduction of critical thinking and EBD into their curricula. The newly designed curriculum built upon an existing problem-based learning foundation, which introduces critical thinking and the scientiic literature in the D1 year, in order to expose students to the rationale and resources for practicing EBD in the D2 and D3 years and provide opportunities to practice critical thinking and apply the EBD ive-step process in the D2, D3, and D4 years. All curricular content is online, and D3 and D4 EBD activities are integrated within existing clinical responsibilities. The curricular content, student resources, and student activities are described.