Dental Student and Pediatric Resident Experiences in a University Setting

1
Dental Student and Pediatric Resident Experiences
in a University Setting De Bord JR, Berg JH,
Leggott PJ, Lin JY, Seminario AL Department of
Pediatric Dentistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA
Background
Patient Ages
Mean Patient Age
Median Patient Age

• The goal of pediatric dental education is to
  train both pediatric dental residents and
  pre-doctoral dental students to provide quality
  oral health care to children.
• Detailed data does not exist regarding the
  clinical experiences of the pre-doctoral dental
  students or the pediatric dental residents at the
  UW Pediatric Dental Clinic.
• Both the dental students and residents receive
  pediatric clinical experience outside of the UW
  Pediatric Dental Clinic as well.
• It is not the goal of this study to
  comprehensively evaluate all pediatric dental
  clinical experience provided or the overall
  quality of the training program at the UW.
• It is the aim to assess the experiences of the
  students and residents at the UW Pediatric Dental
  Clinic.

Methods
Study Design - This is a cross-sectional study.
The study population consisted of the patients
seen at the UW Pediatric Dental Clinic between
January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2008. The
electronic patient record database was utilized
for data collection. Variables - For each patient
visit during 2008, data regarding the provider
type (pre-doctoral student or resident),
procedures performed, and patient age were
collected. Procedure codes were recorded and
categorized by type diagnostic and preventive
services restorative and oral surgery services
or, advanced behavior management such as nitrous
oxide, oral sedation, or intravenous
sedation. Statistical Analysis - Data analysis
included descriptive statistics. An ANOVA test
was completed to evaluate the statistical
significance of the difference in patient ages
treated by dental students versus those treated
by pediatric dental residents. A Chi Square test
was conducted to determine the statistical
significance of the difference between the types
of procedures performed by dental students versus
those performed by pediatric dental residents.
Types of Procedures
Dental Student Procedures
Pediatric Dental Resident Procedures
Results
Conclusions

• The mean and median age for patients seen by the
  dental students was 11.3 years, and 89 of the
  procedures provided were diagnostic or
  preventative. Therefore, most experience was
  providing preventive care to children who are in
  or near permanent dentition.
• Providing dental students with clinical
  experience in providing young children with
  restorative can be a challenge due to a lack of
  behavior management skills and restorative speed.
• Evidence suggests providing more pediatric
  clinical experience increases clinician comfort
  with children and the likelihood providers will
  treat pediatric patients upon completion of
  dental school.
• Further research is needed to determine how best
  to maximize the pediatric clinical experiences of
  dental students in university-based clinics.

Age Clinic Dental Students Pediatric Residents
Mean (SD) 9.08 (4.30) 11.32 (3.86) 8.27 (4.16)
Median 8.48 11.33 7.43
Procedures Clinic () Dental Students () Pediatric Residents ()
Diagnostic or Preventive 12522 (72.71) 4104 (89.35) 8418 (66.66)
Restorative or Oral Surgery 3353 (19.47) 438 (9.54) 2915 (23.08)
Advanced Behavior Management 1347 (7.82) 51 (1.11) 1296 (10.26)
Contact Information
Jessica De Bord jrdebord_at_uw.edu
p lt 0.001