A survey of local anesthesia course directors

This study was designed to present local anesthesia course directors with detailed information that can be used in assessing and improving their courses. A questionnaire was mailed to the directors of local anesthesia courses in all dental schools in the United States and Puerto Rico. The results indicate that oral surgery/oral and maxillofacial surgery departments are involved in 89% of predoctoral local anesthesia courses and that a typical course has 15 hr of didactic and 5 hr of clinical instruction, with a 1:4 faculty:student ratio during the portion of clinical instruction that involves administering injections to classmates. Although an average course content can be derived from the data, the survey revealed quite a bit of diversity in terms of programs of instruction. The program designs, injections covered, instructional materials used, and protocols followed in the event of ineffective anesthetization all warrant consideration by those interested in the way in which instruction in local anesthesia occurs.