The Role of Research Evidence in the Dental Curriculum

Objectives: It is important that dental students ‘acquire a wide range of skills, including research, investigative, analytical, problem-solving, planning, communication, presentation and team skills' and ‘apply evidence-based treatment' (GDC 2002) and that this is inculcated into the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to review the effectiveness of the curriculum in achieving these aims.

Methods: Research evidence was introduced early into the dental curriculum by means of a variety of educational tools, one of these being integrated clinically-related activities. These delivered real clinical activities and stimulated experimental work using a validated research evidence base. Topics studied included: teeth, aesthetics and the smile; bacterial mapping of teeth; plaque disclosing and plaque control; mastication and occlusion. These activities used published research paper(s) on an aspect of clinical dental care and explored the methodology and experimental results behind particular recommendations with students replicating, where possible, the experimental work and analysing their findings.

Results: By carrying out the activities themselves and being participants in the studies, students appreciated the broader context of their recommendations to their patients and felt it informed their decision-making and also patient-related factors such as the likelihood of compliance with the advice provided. The majority of students (72%) regarded these activities as one of the three best aspects in the first year of the course and many perceive them as one of the most relevant aspects to being a practising dentist.

Conclusion: These activities gave students the first real opportunity to ‘practise dentistry' and provided them with some key learning elements for their future care of patients, including critical thinking and appraisal, an appreciation of the need for evidence-based health care and the inconsistencies present in the evidence base.