22 Dental
Education
Dental curriculum
Other educational programs
Postgraduate training
DENTAL CURRICULUM
Dental schools are located within or close to
medical and hospital facilities. The tradi-
tional four-year program of studies corresponds
to that of medicine and consists of two
preclinical years of basic sciences and two
years of clinical study. The basic sciences
(anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) are
taken by dental students in some schools
together with medical students; in others,
instruction is given exclusively in dental
school. While most work consists of lecture and
laboratory experiments, preclinical
study also includes learning the basic
techniques of dental restoration and treatment
through practice on inanimate
models.
The two clinical years are spent treating
patients having a variety of oral diseases
and disorders, while working under the
supervision of clinical instructors. A variety of
clinical procedures and dental care for special
patients (for example, the old and infirm)
are mastered during this period. Making use of
dental auxiliary personnel is outlined.
Beginning in the 1960s, the traditional
curriculum in dentistry underwent change;
the nature of this change was two fold. First
there was a new approach that involved
integration of the basic and clinical sciences
with emphasis on relevance, and thus stu-
dents were introduced to the patient earlier.
Also, greater emphasis was placed on pre-
ventive dentistry, public health dentistry,
practice management, and hospital dentistry.
The curricula of almost all dental schools have
been updated to a greater or lesser extent
along these lines.
A second major change that was attempted was
the shortening of the curriculum to
three years. This experiment, however, appears
not to have been successful and, as of
this time, all dental schools have a four-year
program leading to the D.D.S. or D.M.D.
degree except the University of the Pacific,
which has a three-year program, and
Harvard, which has a five-year
program.
To provide an insight into the various dental
school courses and the approximate
amount of time devoted to each, a summary is
presented in Table 22.1.
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