Curricula for the teaching of complete dentures in Spanish and Portuguese dental schools

Abstract

Objectives: Given the need to ensure that dentists are sufficiently skilled to offer the best possible care to their patients, this study aims to evaluate the teaching methods and clinical experience achieved by undergraduate dental students in Spain and Portugal as regards complete dentures. Study design: In February 2011, a questionnaire seeking information about the preclinical and clinical teaching of complete dentures was e-mailed to all Spanish and Portuguese dental schools with fully developed undergraduate degree dental programs. Results: A response rate of 82.6% was obtained. The distribution of lectures and hours spent at the laboratory and in clinical activities revealed that teaching complete dentures is eminently a practical issue, this being mostly performed by full-time prosthodontists. All surveyed schools teach the design of the record base, and most of them instruct students in the mounting of teeth in wax. Most schools (94.7%) used a semiadjustable articulator, alginate for primary impressions (73.7%) and elastomeric materials in border-molded custom trays for final impressions (68.4%). In most schools, within the clinical setting students work in pairs, the mean student/ professional staff member ratio being 2.3 ± 0.7. Most schools perform a competence-based assessment (83.3%), although innovative techniques such as problem-based learning are still rarely applied. On average, the students emplaced 1.8 ± 1.2 complete dentures during their clinical training, ranging from 0 to 4, although no clear trend was seen as regards the minimum number of dentures to be made for graduating. Conclusions: Variations in teaching programs and clinical experience concerning complete denture curricula among Spanish and Portuguese dental schools are evident, but all the schools base their teaching mainly on preclinical and clinical practice. However, the low number of dentures made by student per year seems insufficient to ensure clinical skills and cope with social needs. Key words:Dental education, questionnaires, complete dentures, curricula.

Learning effects of different training models for border molding from the perspective of dental students

“…Many dental schools in the Unites States have used mannequins for more than 10 years, but their specifications and the effects of their use remain unclear [ 24 ]. Mannequins have been used to take 73.7% and 57.9% of all primary and final impressions, respectively, in Spain and Portugal [ 25 ]. It therefore seems that the use of mannequins has not achieved a high degree of legitimacy.…”

Dental Students’ Perceived Clinical Competence in Prosthodontics: Comparison of Traditional and Problem‐Based Learning Methodologies

“…Prosthodontic training is one of the largest components of dental curricula, so gaining competence in prosthodontics is essential. The current profile of the European dentist states that “a dentist must be competent at designing effective indirect restorations, anterior and posterior crowns, bridges, complete and partial dentures, including a combination of fixed and removable dentures, and occlusal splints, and undertaking some of these procedures as is relevant to the country of practice.” 7 Most surveys of education in prosthodontics have been oriented towards clinical materials and techniques, 8 – 10 preclinical skills, 11 and teaching strategies for complete 12 or partial dentures, 13 but only one study has addressed students’ perceptions of their own clinical competence for treating prosthodontic patients 14 . The aim of our study was to compare the perceived competence for treating prosthodontic patients of two samples of fourth‐year dental students: those educated using traditional methodologies and those educated using PBL.…”

Técnicas e materiais de impressão em prótese total lecionados em pós-graduações ibéricas

“…4,10 Diversos estudos realizados em diferentes países a Médicos Dentistas Generalistas e a cursos pré -graduados demonstram diferentes preferências na escolha de material de impressão definitiva, como verificado em Espanha neste estudo. [9][10][11][14][15][16][17]22 O uso de pasta zinquenólica e polissulfeto tem vindo a ser substituído por materiais elastoméricos, como polivinilsiloxano ou poliéter. 17,22 Estes possuem a grande vantagem de manterem o detalhe dimensional ao longo de bastante tempo.…”