Impact of an interdisciplinary curriculum for dental students (GeriDent‐Cologne) on attitudes and awareness towards older people and geriatric conditions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how adults may be supported in maintaining their oral health and to provide dental students with better knowledge of how the oral health of community living older people can be maintained and to make recommendations. Design/methodology/approach A pilot qualitative study involving eight dental students in three workshops in a Health Centre in South West London with 17 older adults whose ages ranged from 63 to 94 years with 82 percent female and 42 percent white. Findings For the older people, findings confirm previous research highlighting issues around prevention, delivery of care and access. However, other issues such as the use of fluoride and safety around tooth whitening were important. There was concern about the increasing privatisation of the dental service and problems in finding a dentist. For the dental students they valued time with older people and felt that they had a better understanding of them and research. Research limitations/implications The research was in one part of London and interviews were with only 17 older people. However, they were a mixed group in terms of age and ethnic origin. Practical implications These include the need to give older people more information and the value of simplicity e.g. through leaflets. Social implications Good oral health is important for physical and mental health and can help social participation and wellbeing. Originality/value Yes, this is original research.

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Understanding Dental Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions of Older People: Toward a New Model of Geriatric Dental Education

Journal of Dental Education ◽

10.1002/j.0022-0337.2005.69.4.tb03929.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 419-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Jude A. Fabiano ◽

Deborah P. Waldrop ◽

Thomas H. Nochajski ◽

Elaine L. Davis ◽

Louis J. Goldberg

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Dental Education ◽

Dental Students ◽

New Model

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The performance of simple instruments in detecting geriatric conditions and selecting community-dwelling older people for geriatric assessment

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/26.3.223 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 223-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

ROSE C. MALY ◽

SUSAN H. HIRSCH ◽

DAVID B. REUBEN

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Geriatric Assessment ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Geriatric Conditions ◽

Community Dwelling Older People

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Preparing dental graduates to provide care for frail and care-dependent older patients: An educational intervention

Focus on Health Professional Education A Multi-Professional Journal ◽

10.11157/fohpe.v22i2.419 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 23-38

Author(s):

Angie Nilsson ◽

Louise Young ◽

Felicity Croker

Keyword(s):

Oral Health ◽

Older People ◽

Older Patients ◽

Aged Care ◽

Dental Students ◽

Residential Aged Care ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Aged Care Facilities ◽

Residential Aged Care Facilities ◽

Dental Curriculum

Introduction: Australia’s population is living longer and retaining more of their dentition. While the demand for oral health services in residential aged-care facilities increases, there is a call for further inclusion of gerodontology in the undergraduate dental curriculum. This qualitative study explored the attitude of dental students to providing oral health care to older people using a pilot gerodontology curriculum as an intervention during a final-year clinical placement in Hobart, Tasmania.Methods: Focus groups with undergraduate dental students on clinical placement were conducted in 2018 prior to and after implementation of a pilot gerodontology curriculum. The qualitative data was thematically analysed.Results: Two focus groups were conducted with a total of 18 dental students. The main themes included: applied practical learning in aged care, unpreparedness for managing frail older patients, lack of confidence with the process of gaining consent from people with dementia, barriers to providing care to older people and interactions with residents and staff of residential aged-care facilities. Conclusions: This study highlighted the barriers for dental students providing care to older people. There is a need to evaluate how gerodontology is currently taught in the undergraduate dental curriculum to better prepare the dental workforce to respond effectively and more confidently to the growing population of dentate older people in residential aged-care facilities.

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Changes of students’ understanding in the systemic improvement by dental treatment after undergraduate clinical training in Japan

10.21203/rs.3.rs-16609/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Koji Naruishi ◽

Chie Wada-Mihara ◽

Keiji Oishi ◽

Mika Bando ◽

Masami Ninomiya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Significance ◽

Clinical Training ◽

Dental Treatment ◽

Clinical Skills ◽

Dental Students ◽

Periodontal Treatment ◽

Exact Test ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Geriatric Conditions ◽

Systemic Health

Abstract Background: Undergraduate clinical training is a useful program for dental students to learn clinical skills. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dental students who had undergone clinical training understood the clinical significance of dental treatment and its connection to systemic health.Methods: An awareness survey was conducted in dentistry students both before and after undergraduate clinical training. A total of 42 dental students were recruited before clinical training, and 32 dental students responded to the survey. In addition, all of the 42 dental students responded to the survey after clinical training. A total of 53 medical students were recruited as control subjects. Differences between the 2 groups were analyzed using Fisher's exact test.Results: Before clinical training, the percentage of dental students who recognized that periodontal treatment has positive effects on systemic diseases was higher than that of the control. After clinical training, a higher percentage of dental students recognized the positive effects of periodontal treatment on systemic health. A higher percentage of dental students before clinical training recognized the positive effects of prosthetic treatment on geriatric conditions; however, after clinical training no significant differences were found between the dental students and the control when surveyed about the positive effects of periodontal and prosthetic treatment on geriatric conditions.Conclusion: Undergraduate clinical training is useful for improving the students’ understanding of the clinical significance of dental treatment. The results of these surveys suggest that dental education supported by experience contributes to an appreciation of the role of dental treatment.

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P-161: Geriatric conditions that predict mortality and hospitalization in dependent older people living in long term care facilities

European Geriatric Medicine ◽

10.1016/s1878-7649(15)30261-8 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. S74-S75

Author(s):

T. Hirose ◽

J. Hasegawa ◽

S. Izawa ◽

H. Enoki ◽

Y. Suzuki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Term Care ◽

Geriatric Conditions ◽

Care Facilities

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Perception of Old Age in German Undergraduate Dental Students—A Comparison of Two Cohorts 10 Years Apart

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063279 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3279

Author(s):

Sophia Weber ◽

Ina Nitschke ◽

Sebastian Hahnel ◽

Angelika Rauch

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Old Age ◽

Older Patients ◽

Dental Students ◽

Psychological Problems ◽

Dental Services ◽

Men And Women ◽

Individual Perception ◽

Positive Experiences ◽

T1 And T2

Previous studies revealed that students’ willingness to provide dental services for older patients is mainly influenced by their individual perception of elders rather than their knowledge about old age. The aim of this study was to estimate students’ perception of old and young age as well as their hopes and fears associated with old age and to compare two cohorts that participated in the study 10 years apart. Data were obtained from a questionnaire completed by two cohorts of undergraduate dental students from 2006 to 2008 (T1, n = 207) and 2016 to 2018 (T2, n = 135). Participants were asked to define the ages that they consider a man or woman to be old and young. Moreover, they had to specify their fears and hopes associated with old age. Reported thresholds for old age differed significantly between T1 and T2. In contrast to T1 students, T2 students defined a person to be old at a higher age and barely differentiated between the old ages of men and women. Furthermore, T2 students presented more fears related to aging than T1 students, e.g., psychological problems or loss of independence. The perception of age appears to be a multifactorial process and significantly changed between students of T1 and T2. Fears of dental students regarding old age should be addressed in, e.g., gerodontological curricula, to foster positive experiences in interaction with older people and highlight the important and rewarding aspects of gerodontology.

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