Application of behavioural sciences teaching by UK dental undergraduates

Abstract

From 1990, Behavioural Sciences have become a requisite subject of dental undergraduate curricula across the UK (2). However, subject matter taught varies from school to school (4). The aim of this study was to determine the views and experiences of senior dental undergraduates in applying their behavioural sciences teaching across a range of clinical situations. A questionnaire survey was designed in which 5 UK Dental Schools were included to provide a countrywide geographic distribution and where >75% of senior students in each Dental School participated. The questions required the students to evaluate their psychosocial skills in 4 main areas: dentist/patient interactions; enhancing preventive behaviour; anxiety management; coping with personal stress. 252 students participated, 43% were male. In general, students valued their behavioural sciences teaching and 84% rated its inclusion in the curriculum as important. Some patient management situations had been infrequently encountered in their clinical experience and their confidence in dealing with these situations was low. The data was entered into a stepwise logistic regression to determine which factors explained the variation in reported confidence. In relation to dentist-patient interactions and preventive aspects (9 aspects), significant variables were how well students felt they were taught and how often they encountered the situations. Gender contributed to explaining variation in 4 of these aspects. In dealing with patient aggression, men were over 7x more confident than women (Odd's ratio 7.32), but in changing patients' attitudes to oral health, women were more than 2x as confident as men (Odd's ratio 2.08). In anxiety management and dealing with personal stress, additional variables entered the model and these were age, gender and Dental School. For most aspects of confidence in anxiety management, the quality of teaching to manage these situations was the key variable. In conclusion, this survey has provided an evaluation of UK students' perceived psychosocial skills in a range of clinical settings. This should encourage educators to improve curricular content to support the development of clinical competency in this area.

Dental anxiety screening practices and self-reported training needs among Australian dentists

“…30 The findings of the current study provide a basis for arguing there should be expanded teaching in this area at the undergraduate level. For example, the limited teaching related to dental anxiety might explain the finding that 57% of the dentists participating in this study were not aware of the existence of published dental fear scales which could be used for screening anxious dental patients.…”

“…This study found that only 42% of responding dentists who had received undergraduate training related to dental anxiety rated the usefulness of their training as good or better, and this can be compared to 34-60% of dental students in the UK who rated the teaching of various anxiety management aspects as being better than adequate. 30 Similarly, a study of general dental practitioners in the UK found 65% considered their university-level teaching was less than adequate in the use of psychological methods for treating dental anxiety, with 44% indicating they would be interested in further training if financial support was available. 15 Teaching behavioural sciences at the undergraduate level needs to be skills-based and of sufficient scope to be clinically useful.…”

The use of dental anxiety questionnaires: a survey of a group of UK dental practitioners

“…26 Furthermore, the opportunity to practice (as opposed to gaining awareness of) anxiety assessment and management techniques within the dental schools is limited. 27 It is interesting that, in our sample, dentists who provided intravenous sedation for anxious adults, and general anaesthesia or hypnosis for anxious children were more likely to be using anxiety assessment techniques. These are all specialist procedures; it is possible that dentists came across the relevant assessment techniques during their postgraduate education.…”

That ‘mushy boxed fog feeling’: dental students’ evaluations of the social and behavioural sciences in dental education

“…In the UK the General Dental Council (GDC) has stipulated that the undergraduate dental curriculum must include the teaching of social and behavioural sciences (GDC, 2008). However, there is evidence that many dental undergraduates struggle to see the relevance of social and behavioural sciences components to their training as dentists (Kent & Croucher, 1992;Pine & McGoldrick, 2000). In their crosssectional study of two UK dental schools Kent and Croucher (1992) found that students preferred the technical aspects of dentistry over its social aspects.…”

“…In their crosssectional study of two UK dental schools Kent and Croucher (1992) found that students preferred the technical aspects of dentistry over its social aspects. Pine and McGoldrick (2000) found that dental students called for a more practical application of the social and psychological theories they were learning. Similar issues have been found with nursing students (e.g.…”