Current Trends in Dental Education

Abstract

The dental profession is an important segment of human health care services all over the world. Dental schools in Europe and United States have evolved their curriculum to keep abreast with advances in dentistry; like connective tissue biophysics and molecular engineering through an objectively structured and clinically oriented curriculum. However, dental education in our country is still mostly traditional. This article examines the new approaches to teaching and learning in dental schools/colleges that are shaping dental curriculum globally. Articles relating to curricular trends in dental education and advancement in the dental profession published between 2010-2020 were searched in medical search engines. However, few relevant articles published before this period were also consulted. The current trends in dental curricula show new teaching, learning, and assessment methods like small group discussions, case-based learning, competency-based learning, Inquiry-based teaching-learning, and peer-assisted learning. The curricular format is integrated and new innovative assessment techniques like the assessment of multiple systematic reviews (AMSTAR) are being employed. Virtual reality, interdisciplinary teaching, and distributed community models in dental education are being implemented. The emergence of COVID-19 has also affected dental education and as a result, e-learning formats and assessment techniques have become increasingly popular. Dental schools abroad have revamped their curriculum with the advances in newer technologies and research related to dentistry. There is a need to immediately update and redesign the present dental curriculum in our country as well.

Effectiveness of blended pedagogy for radiographic interpretation skills in operative dentistry - a comparison of test scores and student experiences at an undergraduate dental school in Pakistan

“…When looking at dental education in the South Asian region such as Pakistan, most teaching in dentistry schools still relies on traditional methods. However, the recent emergence of digital education has led to some dental schools to rethink their teaching strategies [ 15 ]. Studies on the use of BP in dental education are also quite limited, with only a single study by Mirza et al conducted in Karachi, Pakistan, reporting that dental students encountered difficulty in interpretation of radiographs during patient interactions [ 6 ].…”