The Undergraduate Education of Removable Prosthodontics: A Comparison between the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) and the University of Tokushima (Japan)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to consider the possibility of undergraduate dental education improvement by comparing the dental courses in a Japanese dental school with a UK dental school using the speciality of removable prosthodontics.Methods: Two dental schools, the University of Tokushima in Japan and the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, were compared. We compared both dental schools on the curriculum, lectures in removable prosthodontics, phantom head practice in removable prosthodontics, and clinical practice.Results: There are large differences in undergraduate dental education courses between the two dental schools, especially in clinical practice. Clinical practice exposure in the University of Birmingham is more than three times as long as the University of Tokushima. The number of patients available for treatment in Birmingham is much more than Tokushima and the minimum requirements in removable prosthodontics in Birmingham is more than eight times as many as Tokushima.Conclusion: Large differences in the undergraduate dental education courses between the two dental schools, including the number of patients for students, may be caused by the dental policy, the economy, religion and customs. It is important to execute education methods such as virtual reality simulation, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Web-based courseware and Video-based self learning because of the lack of available patients in Japan.