Dental Education: But Not as We Know It

Abstract

Dental education has evolved, thanks to leaders who challenged the profession with insightful observations of the forces shaping the field of oral health. The fundamental design of the U.S. oral health education model is now nearly a century old and exists in a rapidly changing environment — an environment with a new set of forces that will reshape dental education as we know it. Changing health care challenges, health care economics and the exponential growth of science and technology are driving a major shift in oral health. These influences necessitate the need to move dental education into a new direction that positions our current and future dentists as integrated providers within the health team. The Advancing Dental Education in the 21st Century initiative is the current effort underway to move in that direction and meet health care needs of the year 2040.