CDA Essentials 2017 • Volume 3 • Issue 5

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Supporting Your Practice
31 Volume 3 Issue 5 |
The following is based on a research article originally published
in the “Applied Research” section of —CDA’s online,
open access scholarly publication that features articles indexed in
Medline, Journal Citation Reports and Science Citation Index.
Research Summary
Full article and
references at
More Online
What are Canadian Dental Professional
Students Taught about Infant, Toddler and
Prenatal Oral Health?
Despite the fact that many professional organizations, including CDA, recommend a first visit
coinciding with the eruption of the first tooth or no later than 12 months of age, 2-4 only a limited
number of dentists are willing to see infants and toddlers.6,11 A recent survey revealed that some
general dentists are willing to see low-risk infants and toddlers, but not those with obvious
dental disease.12 Parents who attempt to obtain an early consultation for their child may become
discouraged, as some practitioners refuse to see any children under 3 years of age.13 The purpose
of this study was to determine how accredited dental and dental hygiene programs in Canada
prepare students in the areas of infant, toddler and prenatal oral health.
An electronic questionnaire was sent to associate deans (academic), program directors or
curriculum directors of accredited dentistry and dental hygiene programs in the country.
Respondents included representatives of the 10 accredited dentistry (100%) and 25 dental
hygiene programs (64.1%) in Canada. The questionnaire was developed to collect informa-
tion on whether, and to what extent, programs were educating students in infant, toddler
and prenatal oral health. Specifics explored methods used, hours dedicated to each method
and materials used to educate students.
Results
Infant and Toddler Oral Health Curriculum
While all dentistry programs recommend that a child’s first dental visit take place by 12
months of age, only 56% of dental hygiene programs recommend it. Most respondents
indicated that infant and toddler oral health is an explicit component of their curriculum, and
all indicated that time is designated in their curriculum for this topic. Only 1 dental hygiene
and 4 dentistry schools reported offering additional elective training on the topic, which
most commonly take place in community programs, public health clinics and pediatric
dentistry clinics, with considerable variation in hours of exposure.
In terms of the time devoted to various teaching methods, lectures and seminars were
the most common didactic approaches followed by clinical care and clinical observation
only. Less than a third of programs reported that all students receive hands-on experience
in performing infant and toddler examinations. Most responding programs rely on their
institution’s clinic to provide these opportunities, while others send students to primary care
clinics, daycares and public health settings. Of those who provide hands-on experiences to
some or all of their students, most dentistry programs reported that fewer than 50% of their
students receive hands-on experiences, while most dental hygiene programs reported that
≥ 75% of their students have such opportunities.
Robert J. Schroth
DMD,MSc,PhD
Rocio B. Quiñonez
DMD,MS,MPH
Aaron B.Yaffe
BSc,BN
Mary F. Bertone
DipDH,BScDH,MPH
Felicity K. Hardwick
BDS,MS,FRCD(C)
Rosamund L. Harrison
DMD,MSc,MRCD(C)