Educational Experiences and Preparedness in Dental Anesthesia: Five‐Year Outcome Assessment and Conclusions

Abstract

A mail survey of 2003-07 dental school graduates was undertaken by the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the predoctoral curriculum in anesthesia and to determine the preparedness of practicing dentists to provide anesthesia services for their dental patients. Subsets of the survey responses were created to specifically evaluate the effectiveness of an advanced selective program in sedation offered to approximately twenty third-and fourth-year predoctoral students. This fourteen-month Anesthesia Selective Program provides advanced didactic instruction and clinical experiences needed to establish competence in minimal to moderate sedation. Overall, graduates reported being best prepared in assessment of medical histories, physiology, and pharmacology, while being least prepared in oral sedation, intravenous sedation, and general anesthesia. For graduates currently in general practice, those who had participated in the Anesthesia Selective Program reported being better prepared in most subjects relating to anesthesia and patient care. Participants in the selective were also more likely to treat special needs patients in their private practices. Respondents' written comments indicated a desire for a greater number of clinical experiences involving sedation procedures within the predoctoral curriculum. This outcome assessment indicated that a greater emphasis should be placed on instruction and training experiences for enteral sedation within the predoctoral dental curriculum. Advanced training and increased clinical experiences in anesthesia may also be an effective means to better prepare graduates to assess medical histories, to manage medical emergencies, and to be willing to treat medically complex patients as well as patients with special health care needs.

Preparedness and willingness of dental care providers to treat patients with special needs

“… 22 Finally, this highlights the importance of establishing high-quality dental education programs to prepare undergraduate dental students for and to increase their willingness to treat patients with special needs now and throughout their careers. 23 , 24 Obviously, there are many issues that influence dental care providers’ willingness and competence to treat patients with special needs. 25 It may be valuable to better understand dental education programs with regard to the treatment of patients with special needs and the impact it has on dental care practitioners’ willingness to treat this population.…”

“…Several studies have been directed toward dental students and dental health care providers to measure the factors influencing their behaviors that may limit or improve the access of patients with special needs to dental clinics ( Table 1 ). 1 , 3 , 7 , 13 , 16 , 19 , 22 – 24 , 26 – 30 These studies attempted to measure the preparedness, 9 , 13 , 26 , 27 experience, 19 , 22 , 23 , 26 , 27 knowledge, 3 attitudes, 13 , 26 , 29 and perceptions 7 , 24 , 31 of the dental care providers in regard to treating patients with special needs. The studies were directed at different target populations, where some targeted decision makers at dental teaching institutions, 1 , 3 , 27 while others targeted clinical dental care providers 29 – 32 and some studies targeted alumni and/or current students.…”

“…Some of the reviewed scales were self-developed by the authors, 16 , 23 , 26 , 27 while others adapted scales from the literature, 22 , 29 , 30 , 32 and most of the reviewed studies did not mention the development of their scales.…”

Should Endodontic Residents Be Educated About IV‐Sedation? Endodontics Program Directors’ and Endodontists’ Perspectives

“…Research with dental school graduates concerning their desire for education about sedation seems to contradict this response in our study. In Moore et al's survey of dental school graduates from 2003 to 2007, 44% of general dentists reported that a lack of training/experience or knowledge was a major reason for not offering sedation in their general dental practices, and the respondents’ written comments indicated a desire for a greater number of clinical experiences involving sedation procedures in the predoctoral curriculum 24 . In 2006, Boynes et al assessed the quality and quantity of sedation education in U.S. dental schools among general dental practitioners who had graduated in 2003 19 .…”

Conscious sedation in Spanish dental schools: Current situation

“…In summary, Spain shares a series of international factors that seriously affect the oral health of its population and require consensus‐based training in CS to enable recent graduates to use this technique safely, a task not exempt from difficulties according to the universities of different European and non‐European countries who share our concerns, including the United Kingdom and Ireland (Leitch & Jauhar, ), the United States (Boynes, Lemak, & Close, ), Australia (Moore, Boynes, Cuddy, Giovannitti, & Zovko, ), Japan (Morse, Sano, Fujii, & Kanri, ), and Jordan (Al‐Shayyab, Ryalat, Dar‐odeh, & Alsoleihat, ).…”