Communication is an essential element of the relationship between patient and dentist. Dental schools are required to ensure that undergraduates are adequately trained in communication skills yet little evidence exists to suggest what constitutes appropriate training and how competency can be assessed. This review aimed to explore the scope and quality of evidence relating to communication skills training for dental students. Eleven papers fitted the inclusion criteria. The review found extensive use amongst studies of didactic learning and clinical role-play using simulated patients. Reported assessment methods focus mainly on observer evaluation of student interactions at consultation. Patient involvement in training appears to be minimal. This review recommends that several areas of methodology be addressed in future studies, the scope of research extended to include intra-operative communication, and that the role of real patients in the development of communication skills be active rather than passive.

This paper presents an updated statement on behalf of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) in relation to proposals for undergraduate Curriculum Structure, Content, Learning, Assessment and Student / Staff Exchange for dental education in Europe. A task force was constituted to consider these issues and the two previous, related publications produced by the Association (Plasschaert et al 2006 and 2007) were revised. The broad European dental community was circulated and contributed to the revisions. The paper was approved at the General Assembly of ADEE, held in Amsterdam in August 2010 and will be updated again in 2015.

This guide provides an overview of research on lecturing, a model of the processes of lecturing and suggestions for improving lecturing, learning from lectures and ways of evaluating lectures. Whilst primarily directed at teachers in the healthcare professions, it is equally applicable to all teachers in higher education. Lectures are the most ubiquitous method of teaching so they are an important part of a teacher's repertoire. Lectures are at least as effective as other methods of teaching at imparting information and explaining. Intention, transmission and output are the basis of a model of lecturing. The key skills of preparing lectures, explaining and varying student activities may be derived from the model. Preparation is based on purposes, content, various structures of lectures and the preparation of audiovisual aids. The essential ingredients of explaining are clarity, interest and persuasion. By varying activities, one can renew attention and develop student learning. Learning from lectures can be improved by teaching students the structure of lectures and methods of listening and note-taking. Student ratings of lectures are useful but over-used and limited ways of evaluating lectures. Equally important is peer review and more important than either student ratings or peer feedback is reflection on the practice of lecturing by individuals and course teams.

Virtual reality simulators are becoming increasingly popular in dental schools across the world. But to what extent do these systems reflect actual dental ability? Addressing this question of construct validity is a fundamental step that is necessary before these systems can be fully integrated into a dental school's curriculum. In this study, we examined the sensitivity of the Simodont (a haptic virtual reality dental simulator) to differences in dental training experience. Two hundred and eighty-nine participants, with 1 (n = 92), 3 (n = 79), 4 (n = 57) and 5 (n = 61) years of dental training, performed a series of tasks upon their first exposure to the simulator. We found statistically significant differences between novice (Year 1) and experienced dental trainees (operationalised as 3 or more years of training), but no differences between performance of experienced trainees with varying levels of experience. This work represents a crucial first step in understanding the value of haptic virtual reality simulators in dental education.