58 - Survey Evaluating Differences within the Curriculum of Pediatric Dentistry Programs

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the differences in emerging clinical techniques taught within the pediatric curriculum of dental schools and residency programs in the United States. This study compared didactic, laboratory, and clinical instruction in four key areas: space maintenance, tooth isolation, pulpal therapy for non-vital teeth, and impression methods.

Methods: A 13-item survey hosted in Qualtrics was distributed to pre-doctoral and post-graduate program directors. Comparisons of methods within a topic area (e.g. Isolite system vs. dental dam) were made using Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi-square tests for stratified ordinal responses, with respondent as the stratum. Comparisons between program types were made using Mantel-Haenszel tests for ordinal responses. A two-sided 5% significance level was used for each test.

Results: Residents in graduate pediatric dentistry programs had more diverse clinical experiences in conventional impression techniques and pulpectomies compared to pre-doctoral students. Less than 50% of pre-doctoral students had a clinical experience involving space maintenance compared to 100% of residents. The use of the Isolite system and intraoral scanning has slightly increased in graduate pediatric dentistry programs compared to pre-doctoral programs, allowing the corresponding null hypotheses to be rejected. The use of different space maintainers (lab-fabricated and chairside) has remained constant at both the pre-doctoral and graduate levels, indicating a rejection of the alternative hypothesis in this category. The incorporation of LSTR into possible treatment options for teeth with a diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis or necrosis has not increased in pre-doctoral or graduate pediatric dentistry programs. Extraction with or without space maintenance and pulpectomies remain the standard of care for these teeth, causing the proposed alternative hypothesis to be rejected.

Conclusion: The data gathered in this survey provides information about the differences between predoctoral and post-graduate education and gives academicians insight into the trends in clinical techniques being taught for the treatment of pediatric patients.