Competencies in implant therapy for the dental graduate: appropriate educational methods

Modern dental education should have in on one hand the necessary education and training to make modern dentists capable of implementing population and individual preventive strategies, and on the other make them competent to satisfy current public demands to most patients. Amongst the restorative procedures most demanded by patients implant therapy has reached a clear pre-dominance. Although specialists have traditionally rendered this therapeutic procedure, in simple cases there is seldom need for extensive surgical procedures and therefore there is a clear need to introduce these studies in modern dental curricula. To facilitate the harmonisation and convergence of dental education in Europe, the Association for Dental Education in Europe and DentEd have defined a set of competencies for the graduating dentist in the EU. Using the same framework, we herein define the agreed competencies in implant dentistry, within the different domains, for both the undergraduate and the postgraduate student. Within a context of a competence-based curriculum implant dentistry should be taught as part of the major and supportive competencies described with a strong emphasis on inter-disciplinarity and integration.