Introducing dental students to clinical patient care: The complete denture prosthodontics transition clinic

Abstract

Using complete denture treatment as an introduction to clinical patient care for dental students, the purposes of the Complete Denture Prosthodontics Transition Clinic at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry are to reduce the time lapse between the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course and the first denture patient experience, and to encourage development of student self-confidence and skills. In the 2002 spring semester, faculty at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry initiated the Complete Denture Prosthodontics Transition Clinic for DS-II (second-year) dental students, as an introduction to clinical patient care. Each patient was assigned to a team of two dental students. Three Division of Prosthodontics faculty members staffed each clinic session, providing a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 6.6:1 and a patient-to-faculty ratio of approximately 3.3:1. All DS-II students in the Class of 2004 delivered their first complete dentures no later than 8 months (average, 184 days) after the last day of the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course. The time from the diagnostic appointment through the denture placement appointment averaged 39 days for patients treated in this program, compared with an average of 98 days or more for previous classes. The program was successful in achieving the goal of reducing the time lapse between the preclinical complete denture prosthodontics course and the first denture patient experience.

Implementation of a Patient‐Centered Approach to Clinical Dental Education: A Five‐Year Reflection

“…As the number of comprehensive cases rather than the number of treatment arches became the basis of the requirement, a student's prosthodontic experience ranged from as few as four removable denture arches to as many as eight. Although considerable effort was spent in educating the students to meet the continuing denture needs of patients, it was necessary to evaluate the predoctoral prosthodontic assessment to make it more relevant to clinical practice characteristics and to ensure that the dental health needs of the population were properly reflected in the curriculum 10 – 12…”

Predoctoral Prosthodontic Clinical Curriculum for Complete Dentures: Survey in Turkish Dental Schools

“…Although implant therapy is an alternative method for edentulous arches, the long‐term treatment period, higher cost (dental insurance does not cover implant therapy in Turkey), and possible concomitant systematic disorders may increase the demand for conventional complete dentures 3 . Therefore, dental schools and educators must spend considerable effort in educating their students to meet these continuing complete denture needs of patients 4 . In addition, they must evaluate their predoctoral prosthodontic programs continually to make them more relevant to clinical practice characteristics and to ensure that the dental health needs of the population are properly refected in the curriculum 5 , 6…”

The Effect of Occlusion and Two Denture Base Material on Muscle Activity and Masticatory Efficiency of Complete Dentures

“…Casts mounted on this articulator induce about the same spatial dimension as the condyle to the teeth, so discrepancies in the difference in the radius of arc of closure is reduced. This has a considerable clinical significance as occlusal corrections in the finished restoration are minimize (11,12) .…”