Competencies in implant therapy for the dental graduate. Appropriate educational methods

Abstract

Modern dental education should have in on one hand the necessary education and training to make modern dentists capable of implementing population and individual preventive strategies, and on the other make them competent to satisfy current public demands to most patients. Amongst the restorative procedures most demanded by patients implant therapy has reached a clear pre‐dominance. Although specialists have traditionally rendered this therapeutic procedure, in simple cases there is seldom need for extensive surgical procedures and therefore there is a clear need to introduce these studies in modern dental curricula. To facilitate the harmonisation and convergence of dental education in Europe, the Association for Dental Education in Europe and DentEd have defined a set of competencies for the graduating dentist in the EU. Using the same framework, we herein define the agreed competencies in implant dentistry, within the different domains, for both the undergraduate and the postgraduate student. Within a context of a competence‐based curriculum implant dentistry should be taught as part of the major and supportive competencies described with a strong emphasis on inter‐disciplinarity and integration.

Developing Gerontological Competency: A Curriculum Approach

“…Other professions have adopted similar approaches (Mezey, Mitty, Burger, & McCallion, 2008;Rousseau, Saucier, & Cote, 2007;Sanz & Saphira, 2009), in the development of training and education programs, particularly in the health sciences professions. Educational models used by these disciplines also include defined competencies that are achieved through a combination of knowledge building, experiential, and reflective learning.…”

Developing implant dentistry education in Europe: the continuum from undergraduate to postgraduate education and continuing professional development

“…Sanz and Shapira described the competencies to be achieved by a graduate dentist, related to information‐gathering, diagnosis, treatment planning, treatment and prevention and evaluation of treatment. In addition, it was postulated that dentists should be competent at designing and delivering effective implant‐supported restorations and have knowledge and limited clinical experience in surgical procedures at the basic (straightforward) level, based on the SAC classification .…”

Implant dentistry education in Europe: 5 years after the Association for Dental Education in Europe consensus report

“…These programmes have on average 72 ECTS credits, ranging 12 from 180. Respondents reported on average 9.5 students (range [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] in the final year of study. Three of 11 respondents (27%) acknowledged that implant dentistry is a recognised specialty in their country, and 82% of the respondents (9/11) reported that the postgraduate programme has an official university recognition.…”

“…It should include the fundamental principles of implant therapy, enabling graduates to integrate implant treatment into an overall concept of comprehensive care, to identify indications and contraindications and to inform patients about the treatment options (7). The educational approach used should be in line with modern insights about curriculum development, for example, competence-based education, student-centred, evidence-based, interdisciplinary, case-based and/or problembased learning (5). Postgraduate competences were identified in four domains: (i) clinical, (ii) management and leadership, (iii) communication and (iv) professionalism and ethics, at different levels of clinical practice (straightforward, advanced and complex) according to the need of general practitioners to specialists (8).…”

“…The major indications for implant placement include restoration of oral function and chewing comfort, preservation of dental elements and reconstructions and the replacement of missing teeth (4). The initial provision of implant dentistry was limited to specialised professionals, but today, straightforward implant procedures have become more and more mainstream and, consequently, are increasingly performed by non-specialists (5).…”