Routine oral examination: clinical vignettes, a promising tool for continuing professional development?

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Evidence-Based Dentistry
• Oral Health

Background:

• Patient-tailored decisions for routine oral examinations (ROEs) require robust educational tools.
• Existing methods may not adequately integrate evidence-based practice into clinical decision-making for ROEs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an educational system using clinical vignettes for patient-tailored, evidence-based decisions in ROEs.
• To evaluate this model as a tool within dental education and continuing professional development (CPD).

Main Methods:

• An electronic database and 19 risk-based clinical vignettes were created from literature and 27 ROE cases.
• A RAND-modified Delphi procedure with 31 dental experts established consensus on risk factors, ROE content, and recall intervals.
• A pilot study with 35 General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) assessed the model's reliability for CPD.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive set of 19 clinical vignettes was successfully developed.
• Expert consensus was achieved on risk factors, ROE content, bitewing frequency, and recall intervals.
• Discrepancies were noted between GDPs and experts, particularly regarding recall intervals for low-risk patients.

Conclusions:

• Clinical vignettes serve as a valuable educational instrument for CPD, potentially enhancing clinical performance in ROEs.
• Further research is recommended to validate the reliability of the developed vignettes.