Dental students' reflections about long-term care experiences through an existing model of oral health

The aim of this study was to explore students' reflective thinking about long-term care experiences from the perspective of a model of oral health.

A total of 186 reflections from 193 second-year undergraduate dental students enrolled between 2011/12 and 2014/15 at the University of British Columbia were explored qualitatively. Reflections had a word limit of 300, and students were asked to relate an existing model of oral health to their long-term care experiences. We have identified the main ideas via a thematic analysis related to the geriatric dentistry experience in long-term care.

The thematic analysis revealed that students attempted to demystify their pre-conceived ideas about older people and long-term care facilities, to think outside the box, for example away from a typical dental office, and to consider caring for elderly people from an interprofessional lens. According to some students, not all domains from the existing model of oral health were directly relevant to their geriatric experience while other domains, including interprofessionalism and cognition, were missing. While some participants had a positive attitude towards caring for this cohort of the population, others did not take this educational activity as a constructive experience.

The nature of most students' reflective thinking within a long-term care experience showed to be related to an existing model of oral health. This model can help to give meaning to the dental geriatric experience of an undergraduate curriculum. Such experience has been instrumental in overcoming potential misconceptions about long-term care and geriatric dentistry.