Influence of dental school experience on sealant use by British dentists

Dental schools can play an important role in promoting the appropriate use of sealants. The purpose of this study was to examine the dental school experience with sealants of British dentists and its effect on the use of sealants in practice. A postal survey of a representative sample of British dentists (n = 1000) was conducted. The response rate was 73.7 per cent. Approximately 39 per cent of the respondents reported that they had received sealant training in dental school. Both classroom and clinical sealant training received favourable adequacy ratings. Adequacy ratings were found to increase with graduation year group. In general, the dentists' perceptions of the value of sealants in the eyes of former classmates and faculty were positive. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend toward greater sealant use among those respondents who had received sealant training in dental school.