The niche of dentistry has always been in a state of transformation. With the aging and more diverse population, dentists are facing new challenges.
As the trends in the industry change, so do the needs of students who study dentistry. The literature for dental education still involves a lot of theory, but it's shifting towards a problem-solving approach.
New generations of students will deal with new challenges. Educators have to predict how the industry will grow, so they can prepare these students to be effective in the future. Let's see how the literature for dental education is changing.
Trends in Dental Education Literature
1. Problem-Based Learning Is the Focus of Modern Education
Problem-based learning has been used in medical schools for decades. The concept was developed as a response to the limitations of the traditional, lecturing approach at universities. The students take a problem, try to understand it, and learn as they are solving it in collaboration with faculty and peers.
If we look at modern dental student workbooks, we'll see that they are focused on this model of learning.
They set a problem, and encourage the student to solve it through self-direction, research, and teamwork. Instead of delivering direct solutions in theory, contemporary literature pushes students to rely on critical thinking and come down to their own solutions.
Yes; dental literature still provides a lot of theory. However, the problem-solving approach makes the theory more interesting to analyze.
2. Educational Literature Prepares Dentists for the Many Roles They Will Play
Dental education is more versatile than it ever was. The dentist is not just someone who welcomes patients in their office and fixes their teeth. Throughout their career, they take the role of a manager, scholar, clinician, and psychologist.
The dentist must manage their practice as a businessperson. They must collaborate with their team, develop efficient communication skills, and prepare patients to face the process ahead. Dental educational literature is getting more versatile.
The students take more courses, and they explore more research topics. This answers the question why Study Clerk is such a popular solution among dental students, who get stuck with their projects. They have to write on topics from business management, leadership, psychology, medicine, and ethics. When the textbooks are not enough to prepare them for the academic writing challenge, they have to collaborate with professional researchers.
3. Students Are Being Prepared to Face the Issues of an Aging Population
The dentists of the future will be dealing with a growing number of patients with periodontal disease, oral cancer, and other issues that are typical for an aging population. They will have to find ways to provide the best treatment for a price that a senior citizen is capable of paying.
The dental literature is still preparing students to solve all kinds of issues. However, the changing environment calls for more knowledge on how to help patients with dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer, and other issues that are expected to be more common among the general population ten years from today.
4. The Code of Ethics is Part of Dental Education, Too
The Affordable Care Act from 2010 changed the trends in pediatric dental care. With this act, it became an essential health benefit. All children under the age of 19 get insurance coverage for dental procedures.
Dental care has become too expensive.
Without insurance, patients who don't belong in this age group can hardly get the treatment that they need.
Students should know how to handle these situations. They will need to provide different health plans, which will make their services available to anyone who needs them.
Let's not forget that beneficence has always been an important aspect of the principles of ethics and code of conduct. No patient should be neglected or discriminated against because of finances that they don't have.
Future dentists should be educated to seek solutions that benefit the health of everyone in need for dental services. That's why we're seeing dental ethics books and manuals being emphasized in modern education.
5. Dental Education is Getting Better
Dental Education has always been a repetitious practice of learning theory. That's slowly starting to change. Modern literature pushes students to learn conceptually. They analyze problems, test their knowledge in different concepts, research, collaborate, and make decisions.
They are learning how to do dentistry.
They will still attend seminars and learn through practice. It's a life-long process of personal evolution. However, modern textbooks are more useful than ever, and they prepare them to face changing priorities in the workplace.