Paediatric dentistry undergraduate education across dental schools in the Arabian region: a cross-sectional study

European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-021-00656-9 ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Paediatric dentistry undergraduate education across dental schools in the Arabian region: a cross‑sectional study S. H. Al‑Jundi1 · O. I. EI Shahawy2 · H. Nazzal3 Received: 22 February 2021 / Accepted: 25 July 2021 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract Purpose To assess and compare teaching of paediatric dentistry in the undergraduate curriculum among dental schools in the Arabian region. Methods A 28-item online cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted of undergraduate dental programme directors in the Arab region. The survey included questions related to the programme’s content, method of instruction on specific paediatric dentistry topics as well as the director’s opinion on the level of training obtained by the undergraduate students at the end of the programme. Results The final sample included 31 dental schools representing undergraduate programmes in ten Arabian countries (60.8% response rate). All programmes provided theoretical and practical education on communicative behaviour management techniques and caries prevention. Pulpectomy and formocresol pulpotomy were taught in the form of theoretical and practical education in 87.1% and 80.6% of the programmes, respectively. The method of education on common orthodontic topics was mainly theoretical with the exception of space maintainers. Instructions on managing trauma to permanent dentition was theoretical and practical in most programmes (61.3%). Most respondents rated the level of training of students in behaviour management and caries prevention as good to reasonable, while only 22.6% thought that the level of training was excellent in pulp therapy. Conclusion Variations were observed in paediatric dentistry education among undergraduate dental programmes in the Arabian region in terms of topics, instruction methods, year of introduction of paediatric dentistry education, and number of clinical sessions offered. This study establishes a framework for future paediatric dentistry curriculum development and/ or improvement in the Arabian region. Keywords Undergraduate · Dental · Paediatric dentistry · Teaching methods Introduction Globally, more than 530 million children suffer from dental caries of primary teeth (World Health Organization 2020, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/oral- health. Accessed July 20, 2020), with a high prevalence of untreated dental caries in deciduous teeth especially * H. Nazzal 1 Faculty of Dentistry, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan 2 Department of Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Future University, Cairo, Egypt 3 Pediatric Dentistry, Hamad Dental Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar in low- and middle-income countries (Peres et al. 2019). Dental needs among children in the Middle East remains high (Chen et al. 2019; Al Salami et al. 2018; Alhabdan et al. 2018), placing more emphasis on the need to provide undergraduate (UG) students with sufficient training in paediatric dentistry to a level that allows them to effectively treat children and to identify those needing specialist care, since undergraduate dental education is the starting point for future graduate provision of dental care for children (Rich et al. 2006; Stewart et al. 2010). Most UG dental education in the Arabian countries follow a 5-year study plan with the first 3 years mainly dedicated to biological sciences, basic medical and dental sciences and pre-clinical dental training, while clinical training is carried out within dedicated facilities where clinical teaching 13 Vol.:(0123456789) European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry is carried out through provision of dental care of patients in the community (BaqainZaid et al. 2016). While some Arabian countries have national accreditation organisations that emphasise general guidelines of dental curricula, no guidelines exist for specific disciplines, such as paediatric dentistry, within the dental curriculum (Al-Amad et al. 2016). The lack of such guidelines is likely to lead to a vast variation in undergraduate paediatric dental training, therefore, resulting in a dental workforce of variable knowledge and experience. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess and compare teaching of paediatric dental subjects among undergraduate dental schools in the Arabian region. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study assessing the content, structure and methods used in undergraduate paediatric dentistry education in the Arabian region. This study would help establish baseline data as well as highlight possible differences in undergraduate education across the region allowing programme directors the necessary information for updating content of the paediatric dentistry curriculum, as well as providing the framework to establish general guidelines for paediatric dentistry curriculum in the region in view of the similarities in cultural practices, dental needs and frequency of professional exchange in the region. Materials and methods This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey which evaluated content, structure and methods used in undergraduate paediatric dentistry education in the Arabian region. Institutional ethical approval was obtained from Future University, Cairo, Egypt (ref number FUE.REC (10)/7-2019). A 28-item electronic questionnaire survey was developed and distributed electronically using the Bristol Online Survey tool (now known as Online Survey) to programme directors/ academic members of staff of undergraduate dental schools in the Arabian region. Due to the lack of published data on the number of dental schools in the Arabian region, paediatric dental colleagues working in 13 Arabian countries were contacted to identify dental schools/programmes in their countries, in addition to the contact details of the paediatric dental programme directors/academic members of staff at these schools. Although 100 programmes were identified, the contact details of 51 programme directors/academic staff were identified through this method. Identified programme directors/academic members of staff were invited via email correspondence to complete the online questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed between April and September 2018 with two reminder emails sent in June 2018 and February 2019 for non-responders. A modified version of the questionnaire, used in assessing paediatric dental education of the UK’s UG students, was utilised (Grindrod 13 et al. 2020). To ensure ease of understanding and reduction of ambiguity of questions, the questionnaire was piloted by two very experienced undergraduate dental education programme directors working in the Arabian region. The email circulation lists included 51 programme director/academic member of staff in the Arabian region. Individual follow-up with non-respondents was not possible due to the anonymity of the survey (...truncated)