Dental student readiness to treat special care patients upon graduation

There has been a global increase in patients with special needs. Undergraduate dental curricula need to adjust to meet the needs of these patients. This study aimed to identify how confident final year dental students felt about treating patients with special needs upon graduation and evaluate the influence that the curriculum had on their preparedness based on competencies outlined by the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH).

A questionnaire was administered to final year dental students at two different Universities in Scotland and in Spain to: (1) evaluate how prepared students felt when treating patients with special needs and (2) assess the competencies outlined by iADH.

The response rate was 18.4% (30/163 students). Overall, 83.3% of the students (n = 25) perceived they would benefit from more practical sessions with patients with learning and physical disabilities to improve their clinical management of these patients. 53.3% (n = 16) didn't feel that had the knowledge to properly treat all special care dentistry (SCD) patients upon graduation (scored 5 or 6 on the IADH competency framework). 83.3% of the students (n = 25) felt that the mode of teaching should be problem-based complemented with small group seminars.

Students from both Universities agreed that more clinical practice might be required for them to further their skills to treat special needs patients upon graduation, which correlates with the need to have more practical sessions to consolidate competency 4 (communication skills with SCD) and competency 6 (clinical management of patients requiring SCD).