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Removable partial denture education in U.S. dental schools
Vicki C Petropoulos1, Behnoush Rashedi
1Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, 240 South 40th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6003, USA. vp718@comeast.net
Purpose:
A survey of U.S. dental schools was conducted in 2001 to determine the curricular structure, techniques, and materials used in predoctoral clinical removable partial denture (RPD) programs.
Materials And Methods:
The questionnaire was mailed to the chairperson of the prosthodontic/restorative departments of 54 U.S. dental schools. Of these, 44 schools returned the completed survey, resulting in a response rate of 82%.
Results:
Results from this survey show that a large majority of schools are using similar materials in clinical RPDs; for instance, using modeling compound for border molding final impression trays (61%) and using a semi-adjustable articulator for mounting preliminary casts (90%) and final casts (98%). In addition, a large majority of schools are using similar techniques in clinical RPDs, such as border molding the edentulous areas of the final impression tray (80%) and using the altered cast impression technique (59%). A set post-insertion protocol is present for patients who receive partial dentures in the majority of the schools (93%). Only 25% of schools reported incorporating new educational materials such as the use of Portrait artificial teeth at the predoctoral level. Eighteen percent of schools are allowing students to graduate without a set number of RPD clinical requirements as has been traditionally the case.
Conclusions:
Predoctoral clinical RPD programs vary from school to school, yet a large percentage of schools agree on many topics.
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