A Model for an Integrated Predoctoral Implant Curriculum: Implementation and Outcomes

Abstract

The implementation of an implant dental curriculum in U.S. dental schools has been consistently increasing from 33 percent in 1974 to 97 percent in 2004. Among these, only 51 percent have clinical components implemented. A survey of students conducted in 2004 at New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) showed an inadequacy in clinical implant restoration experience by graduation. This prompted the development of an extensive dental implant curriculum at NYUCD to meet the needs of the dental students. This report addresses the challenges in implementing such a curriculum and describes a step-by-step approach to develop a program that encompasses didactic, simulation, and patient care components. In 2005, a fully integrated predoctoral implant curriculum was initiated. In 2008, nearly all of the NYUCD students (91.8 percent) completed implant restorations/prosthesis on patients. An assessment revealed a 30 percent increase in students' positive perceptions of the implant curriculum. Based on our experiences at NYUCD, it is recommended that an implant curriculum become part of the core predoctoral curriculum and be integrated throughout the four years of dental education. This article reports on a model for a predoctoral implant curriculum, which includes planning, curriculum implementation, program management, and post-implementation stages. Using this model, dental schools can develop implant education for their students that is adapted to their institutional missions, priorities, and resources.

Patient Perception and Satisfaction with Implant Therapy in a Predoctoral Implant Education Program: A Preliminary Study

“…Results from this study indicate that dental students can provide good results with meaningful impact on patients’ lives. Patients have sought care at dental institutions for implant treatment because they typically offer low‐cost programs for surrounding communities and underserved populations . This study also indicated that predoctoral students provided STI therapy that met the patient satisfaction.…”

“…Improvement in comfort with eating, esthetics, phonetics, and overall satisfaction is well‐documented with STI therapy . By having well‐defined and stringent patient selection criteria, implant educational programs can select the patients most suitable for predoctoral treatment and can provide successful comprehensive therapy. With increasing financial burdens in society, patients seeking implant care at dental institutions as an alternative to private practice can be anticipated.…”

“…Past studies have emphasized the importance of having an established dental implant curriculum and identified the need for incorporating the experience in both pre‐patient and patient care level . Dental implant therapy provided by dental students has shown favorable long‐term survival . Many dental students consider implant training to be an important part of their predoctoral dental education .…”

A cross-sectional survey of attitudes towards education in implant dentistry in the undergraduate dental curriculum

“…In general, the preparation of clinical materials in the laboratory (e.g., the fabrication of drill templates) and clinical implant planning received very positive feedback from the undergraduate students, and these activities had a positive influence on the graduates' future plans to perform implant therapy [4,23,24]. However, Fortes et al [25] reported that implant planning by novice and experienced dentists differed if standard radiographs were used instead of CBCT images.…”

A Survey of Dental Implant Instruction in Predoctoral Dental Curricula in North America

“…Therefore, a close examination of current implant education for dental students is important to identify challenges and propose solutions for further curriculum improvement. Many studies have been published on predoctoral implant education in North American dental schools 7 , 8 , 10 , 12 , 18 – 20 . However, only one of those assessed implant education that included preclinical laboratory exercises 10 …”