Death, dying, and bereavement in undergraduate dental education: A narrative review

As the population ages, and bidirectional relationships between oral and general health become clearer, dentistry has to be prepared for the needs of older adults, including at end of life. Death does not only occur in geriatric populations however; death, dying and bereavement are issues that affect all patients and practitioners. Dental education is not preparing undergraduate students to meet clinical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of patients and families requiring end-of-life care. Further, it does not prepare them for the emotional impact of death on their personal or professional lives. This review examines how death, dying, and bereavement could be integrated into undergraduate dental education. We conducted a narrative review using seven data bases, in English, up to 2018. We retrieved 159 papers, of which 36 were included and analysed thematically. The findings parse into two deductive and one inductive theme: 1. Supporting dental students experiencing death, dying, and bereavement; 2. Teaching death, dying and bereavement: curricula, content, and strategies; and 3. Fostering compassionate care in dental education. Health professions curricula are beginning to address how to support trainees experiencing death and dying in their personal lives and when working with patients and families. Dental education has been slow to adopt this trend. No robust studies addressing how best to educate and support learners and professionals were found. Future research should include an examination of what is currently included in training, and a study with educators and professionals to design how best to prepare learners in their training and practice.