Challenges and opportunities in preparing dentists for primary care

With the growing understanding of the relationship between oral and systemic diseases there is an increasing interest in integrating dental providers more completely into the health care delivery system. Technology advancements in traditional dental disease diagnosis and management as well as in salivary diagnostics for systemic disease provide great opportunities for the profession but numerous challenges for dental educators who are impacted by the intersection of numerous, sometimes competing interests. While economic factors play a significant role in curricular innovation and change, in the United States the accrediting process for dental education programs can be an equally vexing challenge. Movement away from primarily a competency-based assessment model to a model focusing on the establishment of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) may provide a needed catalyst to enhance dental education to graduate dentists who embrace an expanded role as primary care providers.