Oral brush biopsy technique instruction outcomes for senior dental students

Computerized oral brush biopsy became commercially available in 1999. The objectives of this study were to provide senior dental students with the clinical competency to perform oral brush biopsy and to evaluate the extent to which students used this technique and the outcomes of their biopsy techniques. During the 2004-05 academic year, 114 senior dental students at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry participated in a brush biopsy instructional program. Brush biopsy training was part of their outreach and engagement experience. Technique instruction included 1) completion of thirteen interactive online educational modules, 2) discussion of a written protocol including clinical photographs and an oral pathology position paper, and 3) performance of a trial demonstration brush biopsy on each other. Eighty-one students submitted brush biopsies on clinical patients. Lesions were found in approximately one out of every twenty patients. Seventy-four biopsy results (91 percent) were diagnostic although seventeen (21 percent) were limited by suboptimal cellular representation and seven (9 percent) were inadequate. The high percentage (71 percent) of students who actually applied their training in a true clinical setting indicates that the program was successful in providing dental students the information necessary to perform this procedure on their own. However, the number of incomplete specimens suggests the need for technique refinement and additional clinical experience.