Death, Grief, and the Dental Practitioner: Thanatology as Related to Dentistry

Kutscher, Austin H.; Schoenberg, Bernard; Carr, Arthur C.

doi:10.14219/jada.archive.1970.0393

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Any patient can be grieving. One older paper suggests that grief can manifest as oral pain, such as a burning sensation in the mouth, that poor oral care may be more prevalent in grieving patients, and that grieving patients may need permission to postpone elective procedures as they deal with their loss 23 . This paper also suggests that when working with any patient, dentists should ask about grief 23 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One older paper suggests that grief can manifest as oral pain, such as a burning sensation in the mouth, that poor oral care may be more prevalent in grieving patients, and that grieving patients may need permission to postpone elective procedures as they deal with their loss 23 . This paper also suggests that when working with any patient, dentists should ask about grief 23 . A recent post on http://www.colgateprofessional.com reminds hygienists that grieving patients may neglect their oral health, and that oral health professionals should be kind and supportive instead of critical of neglected hygiene practices 24 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Death, dying, and bereavement in undergraduate dental education: A narrative review

Macdonald

Singh

Bulgarelli

2020

Journal of Dental Education

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As the population ages, and bidirectional relationships between oral and general health become clearer, dentistry has to be prepared for the needs of older adults, including at end of life. Death does not only occur in geriatric populations however; death, dying and bereavement are issues that affect all patients and practitioners. Dental education is not preparing undergraduate students to meet clinical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of patients and families requiring end‐of‐life care. Further, it does not prepare them for the emotional impact of death on their personal or professional lives. This review examines how death, dying, and bereavement could be integrated into undergraduate dental education. We conducted a narrative review using seven data bases, in English, up to 2018. We retrieved 159 papers, of which 36 were included and analysed thematically. The findings parse into two deductive and one inductive theme: 1. Supporting dental students experiencing death, dying, and bereavement; 2. Teaching death, dying and bereavement: curricula, content, and strategies; and 3. Fostering compassionate care in dental education. Health professions curricula are beginning to address how to support trainees experiencing death and dying in their personal lives and when working with patients and families. Dental education has been slow to adopt this trend. No robust studies addressing how best to educate and support learners and professionals were found. Future research should include an examination of what is currently included in training, and a study with educators and professionals to design how best to prepare learners in their training and practice.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death, dying, and bereavement in undergraduate dental education: A narrative review

Macdonald

Singh

Bulgarelli

2020

Journal of Dental Education

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“…The inclusion of death and bereavement education in medical and nursing schools has occurred. 6,15 A 1992 curriculum survey 14 indicated that death education content was provided by 96% of medical schools and 95% of nursing schools. In contrast, a 1988 survey 6 of dental school curricula indicated that only 24% of schools had content provided on topics related to death, dying, and bereavement with an average of 1.7 lecture hours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclusion of death and bereavement education in medical and nursing schools has occurred 6,15 . A 1992 curriculum survey 14 indicated that death education content was provided by 96% of medical schools and 95% of nursing schools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death, dying and bereavement: a survey of dental practitioners

Klieb

Wiseman²

2008

Special Care in Dentistry

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The dentist's role following the death of a patient in his/her practice has received little attention in the literature. This study determined the prevalence of death within a dental practice. It also investigated methods by which dentists supported grieving survivors, and how frequently dentists received formal bereavement education in dental school. A perceived need for training in death and dying was also investigated. A survey was mailed to 200 randomly selected general dental practitioners in Ontario, Canada. It was found that (1) the vast majority of respondents (86%) had experienced the death of a patient within the past 12 months; (2) support methods included sending sympathy cards (79.3%), sending flowers (34.5%), attending the funeral or wake (23%), or visiting/calling survivors (11.5%); (3) only 4% of respondents reported receiving formal bereavement education during dental school; and (4) 61% believed bereavement education should be included in the dental school curricula. While the majority of dentists in this study provided bereavement support and believed they could effectively comfort grieving persons, these dentists experienced significant stress when dealing with issues of death and bereavement. The stress may be explained by inadequate education and exposure to the issues of death and dying.

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