Assessment of nutrition education of dental students

This study was undertaken to determine the source and quality of the nutrition education received and to determine the nutritional knowledge gained by dental students. The assessment of the dental education program revealed a limited nutrition component uidely scattered among a number of departments and offered diversely in each of the four years. Faculty interviews and a review of course outlines indicated that some material was presented on foods; disorders; diets; nutrition, biochemistry, and physiology; and anatomical terms. A "self-instructional unit" contained seven tapes on aspects of nutrition. National Dental Board Examinations contained nutrition-related questions which would be helpful in developing a nutrition program, including the development of a dental-related nutritional knowledge test. Such a test, developed within the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, was administered to the dental students on an honor-code basis early in the fall semester. Tests were completed by 178 students. The mean per cent score, 58.7 +/- 10.2, was below the mean for undergraduate students who had completed a basic course in nutrition with a grade of "C". Evidence is presented indicating that the general nutritional knowledge of the dental students increased only during the first year of their program. A gain in nutritional knowledge was noted in the categories of: Nutrition, biochemistry, and physiology; disorders, diets, and organisms.