Humanities in Predoctoral Dental Education: A Scoping Review

Health humanities usually includes such disciplines as philosophy, ethics, history, literature, performing arts, and cultural anthropology. The aims of this scoping review were, first, to search the published literature for references to the humanities in predoctoral dental education and, second, to determine if any research studies found that introducing humanities in dental education improved the overall profile of dental graduates. Literature searches were run in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL, and Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source. A total of 248 articles were included in the review, with inclusion criteria comprising the areas of the curriculum, the scope of humanities, and predoctoral dental education. Of those articles, 101 referred in a targeted way to ethics in predoctoral dental education, while others mainly referred to the humanities in general or pointed out the role and place of humanities topics in predoctoral dental curricula. Topics covered included professional ethics, music, narrative learning, theater, art, communication skills, empathy, emotional intelligence, and cultural competence in the context of general humanistic education. The review found limited evidence of a clear impact, either short-term or long-term, of humanities education in predoctoral dental education. Reflections on humanistic education in the practice of clinical dentistry were sparse, as mainly documented by development of the ideal dentist-patient relationship, enhancement of empathy for patients, and most importantly, construction of professional moral values.