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Objectives: As part of geriatric education at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Dentistry, undergraduate students are required to interview an older adult over 65 years old and critically reflect in writing on the meaning of this interview to themselves and their professional lives in not more than 2000 words. They are also encouraged to use a life grid. This study explored the impact of this assignment on the students as learners and on their views about their profession. Methods: Interview assignments were collected from the entire cohort of 54 third‐year students in 2021 and analyzed in 5 stages, using an exploratory thematic analysis, including an interactive coding process to identify patterns (themes) within the assignments using NVivo R1 software. Two researchers coded assignments individually and met to reach a consensus about the codes, to mitigate potential biases. Results: Five main themes were identified, including communication, life course journey, person‐centered care, social determinants of health, and access to care. A wide range of ideas emerged under each theme, including several practical suggestions to improve future practice as an oral health professional. A little over 40% of the students used the life grid in their interviews. Modifications on the interview assignment are suggested. Conclusion: Students' reflections highlighted their observations on a wide range of ideas within each theme, many pertaining to their future profession. They also discussed how this knowledge would inform their future practice in terms of their interactions with, and providing care to, patients with similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mission statements continue to be adopted by academic institutions in general, and by dental schools around the globe in particular. But DEI content seems to be under-developed in dental education. The objectives of this study were two-fold: to extract information from all the PBL cases at University of British Columbia's Faculty of Dentistry curriculum in terms of the diversity, equitable representation, and inclusion of patient and provider characteristics, context, and treatment outcomes; and; to compare these findings with the composition of the British Columbia census population, dental practice contextual factors, and the evidence on treatment outcomes within patient care. Information from all the 58 PBL cases was extracted between January and March 2023, focusing on patient and provider characteristics (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity), context (e.g., type of insurance), and treatment outcomes (e.g., successful/unsuccessful). This information was compared with the available literature. From all the 58 PBL cases, 0.4% included non-straight patients, while at least 4% of BC residents self-identify as non-straight; there were no cases involving First Nations patients although they make up 6% of the British Columbia population. Less than 10% of the cases involved older adults who make up almost 20% of the population. Only Treatments involving patients without a disability were 5.74 times more likely to be successful compared to those involving patients with a disability (p<0.05). The characteristics of the patients, practice context, and treatment outcomes portrayed in the existing PBL cases seem to differ from what is known about the composition of the British Columbia population, treatment outcome success, and practice context; a curriculum disconnect seems to exist. The PBL cases should be revised to better represent the population within which most students will practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Despite teledentistry (TD) ubiquitous utilization, it has yet to be fully adopted by oral health care providers' educational training. This study aimed to explore TD incorporation in the training of oral health care providers. Methods: This review included studies on the TD content offered to oral health care providers. The JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) methodology was used, and two reviewers screened the literature. Studies published between 1989 and 4 June 2022 were searched using "Teledentistry" and "Education" as initial keywords. The searched databases included MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EPPI, Scopus, Epistemonikos, ERIC, MedEdPORTAL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Google Scholar. All of the relevant literature, regardless of their language, were added. The data were extracted using an extraction table and are presented in tabular and narrative summary formats. Results: A total of 2180 documents were found, and 1804 documents were screened by the title and abstract after deduplication; 59 were selected for full‐text review; and 19 were eligible for data extraction. Of all studies, 63.15% were published after the COVID‐19 pandemic. Practicing TD and TD reimbursement were some of the addressed topics. Didactic education and hands‐on practice were the most employed training methods. Self/peer evaluations and surveys were among the employed assessment techniques. Conclusion: TD education has been emphasized during the COVID‐19 pandemic. There is a variation in the existing TD educational programmes, from addressing topics to assessment techniques. However, the number of educational programmes on this topic is sparse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the extent to which teledentistry (TD) content is incorporated into Canadian dental and dental hygiene curricula. Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed among all 10 dental and 35 dental hygiene programs across Canada in June and July 2022. The survey focused on TD teaching (methods employed, content taught, and barriers to TD education), with descriptive (frequency, maximum, minimum, mean) and inferential (Pearson chi‐square for odds ratio test) data analyses using SPSS. A ρ − value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Thirty‐four programs responsed to the survey, including all dental (n = 10) and 68% (n = 24) of dental hygiene programs; eighteen reported having TD content, including three dental programs. An average of 9.22 ± 4.86 h was reported for teaching TD, with lecture format as the most employed approach and using TD in dental practice as the most covered topic. While 53% of the dental hygiene programs employed formative and summative assessments, only one dental program reported having assessment for this content. Moreover, programs that dedicated less than 9 h to teaching this content were less likely to address more than seven topics (Odds ratio (OR) = 0.14). Conclusion: The dental and dental hygiene programs in Canada differ in their offering TD education, and 30% of the dental and 62.5% of the surveyed dental hygiene programs addressed TD content. This scarcity emphasizes the necessity for incorporating such content in future curriculum planning to consequently decrease the lack of knowledge, an identified barrier to TD implementation in education and practice, as today's students will be future educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the association between insulin resistance markers and periodontitis in adolescents, analyzing confounder variables and the adiposity as a mediator. Methods: This is population‐based study is representative of adolescents aged 17–18 years from public schools in São Luís, Brazil (n = 405). Insulin resistance was assessed using the Model of Assessment of the Homeostasis of the Insulin Resistance Index (HOMA‐IR) and its percussor triglycerides/HDL‐cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL‐c). The outcome was Initial Periodontitis, a latent variable estimated by the common variance shared among bleeding on probing, probing depth ≥ 4 mm, and clinical attachment loss ≥ 4 mm. The association between insulin resistance and Initial Periodontitis was modeled via pathways triggered by socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol, and Adiposity, using structural equation modeling. Results: Higher TG/HDL‐c was directly associated with higher Initial Periodontitis (standardized coefficient [SC] = 0.130, p < 0.001). HOMA‐IR was not associated with periodontal outcome (SC = 0.023, p = 0.075), but it was with Adiposity (SC = 0.495, p < 0.001). Higher TG/HDL‐c was associated with Adiposity (SC = 0.202, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The insulin resistance markers were associated with early signs of periodontal breakdown among adolescents, suggesting a possible relationship between diabetes and periodontitis commences early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused stress among undergraduate dental students; coping mechanisms might be employed to deal with such stress. A cross‐sectional study was conducted to explore the coping strategies employed by dental students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in response to their self‐perceived stressors during the pandemic. Methods: An anonymous 35‐item survey was distributed to all four cohorts of UBC undergraduate dental students enrolled in the 2021–2022 academic year, 229 students in total. The survey gathered sociodemographic information, self‐perceived COVID‐19‐related stressor, and coping strategies via the Brief Cope Inventory. Adaptive and maladaptive coping were compared among the years of study, self‐perceived stressors, sex, ethnicity, and living situations. Results: Of the 229 eligible students, 182 (79.5%) responded to the survey. Of the 171 students that reported a major self‐perceived stressor, 99 (57.9%) of them were stressed about clinical skill deficit due to the pandemic; fear of contraction was reported by 27 (15.8%). Acceptance, self‐distraction, and positive reframing were the most used coping strategies among all students. The one‐way ANOVA test revealed a significant difference in the adaptive coping scores among the four student cohorts (p = 0.001). Living alone was found to be a significant predictor for maladaptive coping (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The main cause of stress related to the COVID‐19 pandemic for dental students at UBC is their clinical skills being negatively affected. Coping strategies including acceptance and self‐distraction were identified. Continued mitigation efforts should be made to address students' mental health concerns and create a supportive learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translating existing sociodental indicators to another language involves a rigorous methodology, which can be costly. Free-of-charge online translator tools are available, but have not been evaluated in the context of research involving quality of life measures. To explore the value of using online translator tools to develop oral health-related quality of life measures using the Chinese language as an example. Six online translating tools were employed to translate the original English versions of two sociodental indicators to traditional Chinese, and then back-translate them to English. Two health-professional bilingual translators were consulted to check for the accuracy of the Chinese version produced. The online tools provided literal translations into Chinese with no grammatical coherence for most of the questions, which could potentially have a detrimental effect on the translated version produced as a culturally relevant and psychometrically sound instrument. The two translators did a content-validation exercise on each version of the questions provided by the tools, which were then independently compared to the translations currently in use. As a free-of-charge translator, the tools cannot be used at face value, particularly with languages that are not alphabet-based such as Chinese. They ought to be complemented by a content validation exercise still having minimal impact on resources. This method can be useful in languages that do not yet have a translated version of a given health measurement. The measure produced should still be tested for its psychometric properties in the target language.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to mental health hazards to healthcare providers in general and to undergraduate dental students. The present study undertakes a scoping review to identify and discuss the mental health issues and stressors impacting dental students globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A systematic search following the Joanna Briggs Institute's framework for scoping reviews was conducted on Embase, MEDLINE by Ovid, Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and ERIC to identify peer reviewed publications published globally since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 until June 22, 2021. Manual search was also performed on Google scholar. Eligible studies were selected based on the predetermined set of criteria and focused specifically on mental health issues experienced by undergraduate dental students in the context of COVID-19. Results: Fifty-five publications were retained. Fifty-one reported stress, anxiety, or depression experienced by undergraduate dental students during the pandemic. Twenty-five studies employed validated psychometric instruments to exploremental health status among the same students. A total of 28 publications reported that the predominant concern for students was fear of infection, especially during patient interaction.Adapting to virtual learning, clinical skill deficit due to lack of/limited practical training and social isolation were other majorly reported stressors. Conclusions: Many mental health issues and stressors related to the COVID- 19 pandemic have been identified. Mitigation of COVID-19-related stressors on dental students' mental health should be a priority across all dental academic institutions. Continued efforts should be made to create a supportive learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Dental education is perceived as a source of students' psychological and occupational stress. Resilience has been proposed as a protective factor that may support students' in managing that stress. The objectives of this study were twofold: to map the mental health and well‐being content in the curriculum of the Faculty of Dentistry (FoD) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and to investigate factors influencing resilience levels amongst dental students at UBC. Methods: The curricular database and website of UBC's FoD were used to gather information on mental health content. A survey with the Connor‐Davidson 10‐Item Resilience Scale was distributed to dental students at UBC (N = 289). Students' de‐identified demographic data were also collected. Results: Two main mental health and well‐being curricular components were identified: one didactic session on stress management and one interactive workshop on resilience. The response rate for the survey was 68.2%. Students who did not receive any mental health content (2020/21 year 1 students) had higher resilience scores (p =.043) when compared to students who received both components (2019/20 year 1 students and 2018/19 year 2 students). The multiple regression analysis highlighted North American/European ethnic origins as a predictor for higher resilience levels (p =.008). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that ethnic origins and major life events, such as the pandemic, influenced resilience. Curricular activities promoting resilience seemed to not necessarily impact students' resilience. Further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the curricular and non‐curricular activities influence over dental students' well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]