Search

In large lectures in education of dentists there is often less dialogue and communication between students and the instructors, and several studies have found that traditional lecturing in such lectures is ineffective in promoting student learning. This Design Based Research (DBR) and case presentation focus on how the use of Student Response Technology (SRS) and feedback can improve communication in large lectures in dentist education. The case presentation is based on lecturer's experiences and student responses from ten annual large lectures from the period 2010-2019 in the course "Practice Study" (3 ECTS) at University of Bergen where dentist students and their supervisors were gathered for an annual one-day seminar. The case presentation shows the importance of recognizing the factors that affect dentist students' nervousness and tension for the practice periods and where the use of SRS seems to contribute to raise the awareness among supervisors and students about such issues. This, and a focus on good communications skills among dentist students and their supervisors seems to be crucial to focus on before their practice period in The Public Dental Health Care. There are also a number of limitations in this case presentation, which will be handled in the further development of this DBR-project.

Background/Aims: Traumatic dental injuries (TDI) occur frequently and may result in pulp sequelae. This includes pulp necrosis with infection, pulp canal obliteration and root resorption. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of pulp sequelae after TDI among Norwegian adolescents. Material and methods: A retrospective longitudinal study, including historical clinical data, was conducted with 16‐year‐old pupils in western Norway. All first‐grade pupils, born in 1997 (n = 5184), attending public high schools, were invited to participate and to respond to an electronically administered closed‐ended questionnaire (response rate 39.6%, n = 2055). Consent was given to access the dental records in the Public Dental Health Service in Hordaland, where information regarding TDI (diagnosis and treatment) and radiographs were interpreted. Only TDIs to anterior teeth were recorded (canine to canine in the maxilla and mandible). Outcome variables of TDI were registered and analysed using logistic regression, Kaplan‐Meier survival estimates and log‐rank test. Results: The prevalence of TDI in the sample population was 16.4% (338 pupils), with a total of 637 teeth involved. The number of included teeth for analysis was 571 (90.5%). The prevalence of pulp necrosis with infection was 7.5%. Moderate and severe TDI was associated with a higher frequency of pulp necrosis with infection. Pulp canal obliteration and root resorption were found in 2.8% and 2.3% of teeth with TDI, respectively. Dental hard tissue injuries were more prone to the development of pulp necrosis than luxation injuries and combination injuries. The relationship between root development stage and development of pulp necrosis with infection was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Occurrence of different pulp sequelae among teeth affected with TDI was low. Moderate and severe TDI were more at risk of developing pulpal complications and hard tissue injuries were at higher risk of developing pulp necrosis with infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KOSTRA (Community-State-Report) is a national information system providing data about activity at community and country level, as well as in the Public Dental Service (PDS). The main aim of this study is to assess the usefulness of the present KOSTRA data reporting system, i.e. if it is in accordance with modern treatment philosophy of dental caries, reduced caries prevalence and if it contributes as a dental health promotion tool. As a secondary aim to critically evaluate the way caries data are reported in KOSTRA and how the data are presented as well as discuss reporting improvements. Findings show that the existing KOSTRA routines should be changed and the procedures updated in accordance with the modern philosophy of caries prevention and therapy. It is considered important to include carious lesions in enamel in the KOSTRA reports, and from an early age, to monitor caries development, for the optimal planning of the Public Dental Service for children and adolescents. Furthermore, KOSTRA should, if possible, change from an aggregated to an individual reporting level, using statistical random samples. The standard class intervals of frequency distributions should be revised to facilitate estimation of SIC in order to allow for changed caries experience in key age groups. Calibrated examiners should be used to carry out the registration in order to improve data quality in terms of reliability and validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To investigate dental beliefs and attitudes of a diverse group of parents from their children when they were aged 3 and 5 years old and to identify possible mediators for a group composed of the parents with the most negative dental attitudes. Material and methods. Data were collected by parental questionnaire when the children were aged 3 years in 2002 and again 2 years later. The inclusion criteria were children with mothers from Norway (N group) or non-Western countries (IM1 group). Questionnaires were extensive and had previously been used in a multicenter study. Three composite attitudinal variables relating to oral hygiene, diet and parental indulgence were calculated and an “attitudinal risk group” identified. The association between those variables and the assignment to the group was measured by odds ratio (bivariate and multiple logistic regression). Results. The N parents' dental attitudes were significantly more positive in 2004 when their children were 5 years old than when they were 3 years old ( p < 0.0001), but this was not the case among immigrant parents. “Education” and “Immigrant status” [odds ratio (OR) 3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–7.0; and OR 2.8, CI 1.1–7.3, respectively] were significantly associated with the defined “attitudinal risk group”. Conclusions. Only dental attitudes among N parents were significantly more positive in 2004 than in 2002. Not having higher education and being of non-Western background were associated with belonging to the “attitudinal risk group”. Culturally tailored programs of dental health education are needed to promote more positive attitudes to oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]