Current status of gerodontology curriculum in India and other parts of the world: A narrative review.

Abstract

The current rise in the world's geriatric population has placed additional demands on dental professionals, as the management of geriatric patients requires distinct competencies. To review and perform a content analysis of the gerodontology undergraduate curriculum worldwide. A search was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science, ERIC and EMBASE databases for the period-July 2008 till May 2019, using MeSH terms. A search for websites of Indian universities was also done, and undergraduate curricula were screened. The study included articles related to the undergraduate curriculum, which contained training in geriatric dentistry. Articles in foreign languages and those related to dental hygienists were excluded. A total of 218 articles were obtained, of which 19 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 301 colleges taught gerodontology. Amongst them, 50 colleges had a gerodontology department. Clinical training and outreach experience were provided in 175 and 73 colleges, respectively. There are no reports on the status of gerodontology in Asian countries (excluding Japan). In India, gerodontology is not taught as a separate subject. However, few gerodontology-related topics are covered in clinical subjects. There seems to be a wide variation in the content of gerodontology curriculum taught worldwide. Other than the European and American regions, gerodontology is yet to develop in other parts of the world. In India, a robust training programme is required to address the lack of dental care providers for the geriatric population using guidelines established by ECG and ADEA.