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Purpose The Commission of Dental Accreditation ( CODA) does not set minimum standards for clock hours of training in Dental and Clinical sciences. The purpose of this evaluation was to compare United States ( US) dental schools for variability in clock hours. The current paper utilizes the American Dental Association's survey of clock hours of all US dental schools which is publicly available data. Clock hours survey from 2010 to 2011 was utilized and the analysis tool, JMP, was utilized to visualize and report variability. Perspective The current paper highlights the large variation in clock hours of training among core clinical subjects in accredited dental schools around the United States. For example, teaching Physical Evaluations; Oral and Maxillofacial; and Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Planning were 97.0; 126.6; and 74.4 h. Moreover, upper limit for hours of Operative Dentistry teaching was 1410 h and lower limit was 129 h. Various other fields of education do enforce strict requirements on educational clock hours. For instance, Massachusetts' General Law states that both private and public schools must have 900 and 990 h in a school year for elementary and secondary schools, respectively. However, no such stipulation exists in the field of Dental Education. CODA's mission is 'to serve the oral health care needs of the public' and CODA must consider if the average dental patient would consider a dentist who attended the school delivering 1410 h of Operative Dentistry to be the same standard as a graduate of the school delivering 129 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine national and state-specific estimates of dental care use among adult pregnant women in the United States using data from two 12-month periods. The study also determined person-level characteristics that may predict a lack of dental care use within this subgroup., Methods: Responses were analyzed from 4619 pregnant women aged 18 to 44 years who participated in the 1999 and 2002 state-based Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Dental care use was defined as having a dental visit or a dental cleaning in the 12 months preceding the interview. State-specific estimates were adjusted to the 2000 U.S. population distribution. Multivariable regression analysis was used to evaluate person-level characteristics that may predict not obtaining dental care during this period., Results: Overall, 70% of pregnant women in 1999 and 2002 had received dental care in the previous 12 months. Age-adjusted estimates ranged from 36% (Nevada) to 89% (Vermont) to 91% (Puerto Rico). In 19 states, 75% or more of pregnant women had obtained dental care in the previous 12 months (age-adjusted figure). Most pregnant women with dental care were non-Hispanic white and married, and they had a greater than high school education. Income and smoking status were significant predictors for not using dental care., Conclusion: In several states, more than 70% of pregnant women reported a dental visit or dental cleaning during the previous 12 months. Relative to the general population, pregnant women are as likely to receive dental care, but certain subgroups need to do much better. However, these estimates may be biased toward a population with a higher socioeconomic status and may not represent dental care use among pregnant women in the general U.S. population.