Diversity and critical forces in dental education

Critical issues that affect dental education and the connection between science and practice include the community, managed patient care, public skepticism and fiscal support, and shifting demography in patterns of oral disease as well as the background of students entering the dental profession. During the past several decades, there have been major shifts in the patterns of oral disease, most recently described in results of the NHANES III dental survey. The diversity and background of students entering the dental profession have changed dramatically as well, and present estimates of change in U.S. population are no less volatile. Funding for dental education in constant dollars is decreasing nationally, with declining support from state and federal sources and a much greater reliance on clinical and development income. Recent recommendations by the Institute of Medicine and Pew Health Commission and reactions to those recommendations by representative dental organizations-particularly the American Dental Association, American Association of Dental Schools, and the American Association of Dental Examiners-have significant implications for the structure of dental education. All of these factors are tempered by the emergence of managed patient care and the implications of that environment to increasing the level of academic excellence of students, improving the quality of care delivered to patients, and enhancing the scholarly contributions of faculty. These forces may represent an opportunity to maintain a well-documented national excellence in oral health care, expand the educational options to meet student demand and interest, increase the biological and behavioral background of our graduates, and explore new educational approaches to preclinical and clinical training.