Faculty Bibliography

The health care delivery system is poised for substantial change in the coming years. The foremost vector driving this change is economics. However, use of evidence-based principles of practice and a high desire, if not a national mandate, for increased quality in health care delivery are also very important factors. Nestled within this large national health care debate are a set of issues that directly impact dental education and practice. Among them is the potential impact of expanded intraprofessional and interprofessional collaborations among dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, and nurse practitioners, among others, in search of better oral and general health care for all Americans. This article explores many of the issues involved in this possible transition with special reference to the impact of the changes on dental education.

In 2004, a survey of the deans of U.S. and Canadian dental schools was conducted to determine the implant dentistry curriculum structure and the extent of incorporating implant dentistry clinical treatment into predoctoral programs. The questionnaire was mailed to the deans of the fifty-six dental schools in advance of the ADEA Implant Workshop conference held in Arizona in November 2004. Out of the fifty-six, thirty-nine responded, yielding a response rate of 70 percent. Thirty-eight schools (97 percent) reported that their students received didactic instruction in dental implants, while one school (3 percent) said that its students did not. Thirty schools (86 percent) reported that their students received clinical experience, while five schools (14 percent) reported that theirs did not. Four schools (10 percent) did not respond to this question. Fifty-one percent of the students actually receive the clinical experience in restoring implants, with the range of 5-100 percent. Of those schools that provide clinical experience in restoring implants, four schools (13 percent) reported that it is a requirement for them, while twenty-eight schools (88 percent) reported that it is not a requirement for them. Three schools (9 percent) did not respond. The fee for implants is 45 percent higher than a crown or a denture, with a range of 0-100 percent. Twenty-nine schools (85 percent) indicated that they did receive free components from implant companies, while five schools (15 percent) did not. The conclusions of this report are as follows: 1) most schools have advanced dental education programs; 2) single-tooth implant restorations are performed at the predoctoral level in most schools; 3) implant-retained overdenture prostheses are performed at the predoctoral level in most schools; 4) there is no predoctoral clinical competency requirement for surgical implant placement in all schools that responded to the survey; 5) there is no predoctoral clinical competency requirement for implant prosthodontics in most schools that responded to the survey; 6) prosthodontic specialty faculty are often responsible for teaching implant prosthodontics at the predoctoral level; 7) periodontics and oral and maxillofacial faculty are commonly responsible for teaching implant surgery at the predoctoral level; 8) support from implant companies is common for dental schools, with most providing for implant components at discounted costs; and 9) there is a lack of adequately trained faculty in implant dentistry, which is a significant challenge in providing predoctoral students with clinical experience with dental implants

This article describes an integrated fourth-year course in catastrophe preparedness for students at the New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD). The curriculum is built around the competencies proposed in 'Predoctoral Dental School Curriculum for Catastrophe Preparedness,' published in the August 2004 Journal of Dental Education. We highlight our experience developing the program and offer suggestions to other dental schools considering adding bioterrorism studies to their curriculum

Health care, including oral health care and oral health education, is under great stress in the United States. The cost of and access to care, the cost of dental education, and a shortage of educators have led leaders in dental education, organized dentistry, and the public sector to underscore the problem. One of the proposed solutions is to find synergies and new health care and education models by building bridges among the health professions. One potential solution is being implemented at the NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD). Dentistry and nursing are seemingly unrelated professions, and they are rarely if ever modeled together. That is about to change with the joining together of NYUCD and the Division of Nursing of the NYU Steinhardt School of Education in creating a College of Nursing within the College of Dentistry. This process has not been without controversy. Following the Division of Nursing's request to join NYUCD, and the subsequent announcement of the proposed combination by NYU in December 2004, some members of the dental profession responded by questioning the appropriateness of the merger and the similarity of the two programs. Nevertheless, substantial parallels exist in the education and practice of dentists and nurse practitioners (NP) including basic, social, and some clinical science education, practice models, research synergies, and community service. However, similarities in the core competencies of these professions have not been analyzed formally and in detail. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to compare the core competencies of nurse practitioner and dental education programs. The results show a surprising overlap of the core competencies of the dental and nursing professions (38 percent partial or total overlap). A similar overlap with medicine also exists, albeit lower (25.4 percent). These results are notable because they demonstrate that the three health professions, independently of one another, developed very similar basic competencies and learning objectives. These data should encourage other health professions programs to seek new collaborative models for education, beyond the current silos of training, and new health care delivery systems as has been strongly recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Such collaborative education redirects health care toward providing truly interdisciplinary comprehensive primary care for patients.

Preparing for catastrophic events, both human-made and natural, is in the national interest and has become a priority since catastrophic events in Oklahoma City, Washington, DC, and New York City. Dentists are a large source of non-physician health manpower that could contribute to the public welfare during catastrophic events that require additional public health human resources. Dentists, by virtue of their education, understand biomedical concepts and have patient care skills that can be directly applied during a catastrophic event. Dentists also can provide training for other types of health care workers and can supervise these individuals. In this article, we propose that dentistry can make a significant contribution as part of a national response before, during, and after a catastrophic event or at the time of a public health emergency. We describe the potential collaboration among a dental school, city and state health departments, law enforcement, the military, and others to develop a curriculum in catastrophe preparedness. Then we describe one dental school's effort to build a catastrophe preparedness curriculum for our students. The competencies, goals and objectives, and sources of content for this catastrophe preparedness curriculum are described as well as suggestions for sequencing instruction

No one can deny that these are extraordinary times in world affairs. This is true not because there is turmoil in the world, which tends to be the norm, but because the problems in the world are dominated not by countries or religions, but by individuals and radical sects for whom life seems far too expendable. It is a time for each of us to determine how to respond to help protect our families. It is also a time for dentists to assess how they should respond to meet the additional demands placed upon them by way of their professional licenses and underlying responsibility to society. This article frames a set of commitments that the profession should consider assuming. It is related from the perspective of an institution that has taken an active role in societal protection from before Sept. 11, 2001, to the present. The discussion includes a description of the nature of medical surge demand and why the dental profession is uniquely positioned to assist in meeting this demand. The skill set of the dentist is highlighted in terms of triage ability, a role in bio-surveillance, the capacity to calm the 'worried well,' and community responsiveness. In addition, concepts like shelter in place and the Medical Reserve Corps are explained, and valuable reference sources and websites are provided