Training future dental clinicians. An integrated approach to health care

The next generation of dental professionals will require an improved understanding of the interplay between oral health and general health. An aging population, a greater proportion of medically complex patients and an evolving health care delivery system all call for changes in the ways dentists are trained. A concerted effort to broaden primary health-care activities in the dental office will greatly improve both oral and general health outcomes. It is proposed that expansion of biomedical training in the predoctoral curriculum, mandated PGY-1 postgraduate training and improved continuing education courses would provide the basis for achieving these goals.