Interprofessional Oral Health Education Improves Knowledge, Confidence, and Practice for Pediatric Healthcare Providers

Abstract

Dental caries is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease in the United States. Dental caries affects the health of 60–90% of school-aged children worldwide. The prevalence of untreated early childhood dental caries is 19% for children 2–5 years of age in the U.S. Some factors that contribute to the progression of dental caries include socioeconomic status, access to dental care, and lack of anticipatory guidance. The prevalence of dental caries remains highest for children from specific ethnic or racial groups, especially those living in underserved areas where there may be limited access to a dentist. Although researchers have acknowledged the various links between oral health and overall systemic health, oral health care is not usually a component of pediatric primary health care. To address this public health crisis and oral health disparity in children, new collaborative efforts among health professionals is critical for dental disease prevention and optimal oral health. This evaluation study focused on a 10-week interprofessional practice and education (IPE) course on children’s oral health involving dental, osteopathic medical, and nurse practitioner students at the University of California, San Francisco. This study’s objective was to evaluate changes in knowledge, confidence, attitude, and clinical practice in children’s oral health of the students completed the course. Thirty-one students participated in the IPE and completed demographic questionnaires and four questionnaires before and after the IPE course: (1) course content knowledge, (2) confidence, (3) attitudes, and (4) clinical practice. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in the overall knowledge of children’s oral health topics, confidence in their ability to provide oral health services, and clinical practice. There was no statistically significant difference in attitude, but there was an upward trend toward positivity. To conclude, this IPE evaluation showed that offering an interprofessional course on children’s oral health to graduate students in dentistry, nursing, and osteopathic medicine can improve their knowledge, confidence, and practice toward children’s oral health and expand their professional goals to include caring for underserved, minority children.

Pediatric Dental Education Improves Interprofessional Healthcare Students’ Clinical Competence in Children’s Oral Health Assessment

“…This study shows that students significantly improved in their knowledge, confidence, and attitude on children's oral health after completion of the course. This is similar to previous studies where interprofessional education increased participants' knowledge, confidence, and attitudes in children's oral health [11,17]. This suggests that incorporating interdisciplinary training early on in the providers' career can be a promising strategy in integrating children's oral health care into primary care practices.…”

“…A moderate correlation was found between students' improvement in knowledge and their actual clinical skills. Other studies on interprofessional children's oral health education also involved a combination of didactics and clinical simulations; however, limited studies measured participants' clinical skills objectively on a set criterion [11,17,18,28]. No significant correlation was found between students' improvement in confidence and attitude and their clinical skills.…”

“…This fact raises the importance of training primary health care providers in identifying oral health issues and making appropriate and timely referrals [9,10]. As such, incorporating oral health care into primary care trainings is ideal, and several schools, including the University of California, San Francisco, New York University, and University of Washington, have implemented interdisciplinary training programs [11][12][13]. However, with the recent innovation of these training programs, a review of literature shows few studies that validate clinical competency in oral health screenings and fluoride application.…”

Effect of interprofessional education on oral assessment performance of nursing students

“…Some previous studies regarding oral health interprofessional education for nursing students reported that students' attitudes and confidence regarding oral health improved after the education intervention (Cooper et al, 2017;Golinveaux et al, 2013). Therefore, interprofessional education with dental and nursing staff may be effective for improvement of attitude and confidence.…”

Evaluation of an Oral Hygiene Education Program for Staff Providing Long-Term Care Services: A Mixed Methods Study

“…Oral hygiene education, like any other type of health education, encounters the problem of knowledge retention [39]. A short, focused oral hygiene education program had a significant impact on physician assistants' retention rate of oral hygiene knowledge [40]. The key elements of improving learning retention rates include drawing the learner's attention, stimulating interest in the topic, arousing motivation for learning, and building ways for learners to critically think about information [41].…”