Dental School Faculty Members Research Articles

Evaluation of Glazing and Polishing Systems for Novel Chairside CAD/CAM Lithium Disilicate and Virgilite Crowns.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of glazing, two zirconia, and two lithium disilicate polishing systems on surface roughness of a CAD/CAM lithium disilicate and virgilite ceramic with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and visual assessment performed by dental students and faculty. Sixty maxillary right central incisor crowns made of a novel chairside CAD/CAM lithium disilicate and virgilite (CEREC Tessera) were milled for glazing and polishing. The crowns were divided into six groups: no polishing/glazing provided (NoP/G); glazed (GZ); glazed and polished with Brasseler Dialite LD Lithium Disilicate (DiLD); glazed and polished with Meisinger Luster Lithium Disilicate (LuLD); glazed and polished with Brasseler Dialite ZR Zirconia (DiZR); and glazed and polished with Meisinger Luster Zirconia (LuZR). Surfaces were scanned with AFM to measure roughness (Ra) and root mean square roughness (Rq) and generate micrographs. Crowns were visually assessed by 10 dental students and 10 dental school faculty members to determine clinical acceptableness. Glazing and all polishing kits significantly reduced Ra and Rq compared to no polishing/glazing. No significant Ra differences were found between glazing and all polishing kits (p>0.05). DiZR significantly reduced Rq compared to other groups (p<0.05). Visual assessment showed that GZ, LuLD, and DiZR were the most clinically acceptable crowns. Polishing and glazing considerably improve the surface smoothness of maxillary central incisor crowns fabricated out of a chairside CAD/CAM lithium disilicate and virgilite ceramic. Altogether, zirconia polishing systems provided smoother and more clinically acceptable surfaces than the lithium disilicate kits.

Perceptions of Online Learning Implementation in Dental Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Dental School Faculty Members in Southeast Asia.

To assess the perceptions of faculty members from dental schools in Southeast Asian countries regarding the implementation of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A previously implemented questionnaire comprising 43 questions was utilized in this study. Lecturers from four universities in Southeast Asia were invited to participate in the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 through several types of comparative and correlation analyses. There were 183 lecturers who participated in the study. The overall responses suggest that the perceived effectiveness of online learning in dentistry was centered on a neutral value. The participants faced challenges when implementing online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the lack of interaction being the most challenging factor. They agreed that online learning had many advantages, specifically in time flexibility and communication. The participants had stronger perceptions relating the advantages and opportunities of online teaching, and recognized that the effectiveness of offline teaching alone was limited. The perceptions of Southeast Asian dental school faculty members were inclined toward a positive outlook on blended learning for implementation in dentistry, as a means of providing opportunities to use online learning beyond COVID-19 in the future.

Scientific Paper Production by Iranian Dental Schools Between 2015 and 2019

Background: Journal articles published by Iranian dental school faculty members have followed an upward trend Since 2000, based on: (1) the global growth rate; (2) the increase in the number of country’s dental schools and their relatively higher number of faculty members; and (3) the health ministry’s emphasis on research and scientific publications. Hence, it is important to keep ourselves up to date about the trend of scientific articles published by Iranian dental schools. Objectives: This study aimed to extract the number and quantitative value of articles authored by faculty members of Iranian dental schools that are indexed in three databases of SCOPUS, PubMed, and the Web of Science (WoS/ISI) from 2015 to 2019. Methods: A five-year cross-sectional study was conducted on the above-mentioned databases, using a similar strategy for all databases. Words “Iran” and “dent*” were searched in affiliations. The obtained results were investigated in-depth. The details of search results were checked out one by one. Only those articles with at least one author genuinely affiliated to an Iranian dental school were included for further assessment. The “number of articles” authored by at least one author and those with the “first author” affiliated to an Iranian dental school were counted. Then, the “quantitative value” or share of each author was calculated by dividing one by the number of authors of the article. The three variables were compared among databases, dental schools, and study years. Results: A total of 3922, 2473, and 2345 articles were retrieved from SCOPUS, PubMed, and WoS, respectively. Concerning SCOPUS and WoS databased, all three study variables had an increasing trend from 2015 to 2018 but decreased in 2019. In PubMed, however, the decline started from the beginning of the study period. Conclusions: The observed decline in the number of scientific papers produced or published at the end of the study period is worrying. The novel variable of “quantitative value” that was calculated in this study can be regarded as an appropriate and feasible indicator to determine the number of scientific papers published by individuals, dental schools, and the whole country’s dental research society, compared to other variables. Policymakers should rethink facilitating publication in accredited journals, especially those indexed in PubMed.

Evaluation of Polishing Systems for CAD/CAM Polymer-Infiltrated Ceramic-Network Restorations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of five different polishing systems on a computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) polymer-infiltrated ceramic-network restoration with nanoscale assessment using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and visual assessment performed by dental school senior students and faculty members. Forty-eight full coverage crowns were milled out of polymer-infiltrated ceramic-network CAD/CAM blocks (Vita Enamic) for polishing with one company proprietary, two ceramic and two composite polishing systems. The prepared crowns were divided into six groups: (1) no polishing (control); (2) polishing with Vita Enamic Polishing Kit (VEna); (3) polishing with Shofu Porcelain Laminate Polishing Kit (SCer); (4) polishing with Brasseler Dialite Feather lite All-Ceramic Adjusting & Polishing System (BCer); (5) polishing with Shofu Composite Polishing Kit (SCom); and (6) polishing with Brasseler Composite Polishing Kit (BCom). The polished crown surface topography was observed, and surface roughness and area were measured with AFM. In addition, polished crowns were visually assessed by 15 senior dental students and 15 dental school faculty members. All polishing treatments significantly reduced the surface roughness and area of the crown compared with the control. SCom and BCom showed significantly higher surface area than VEna, and the SCer and BCer groups were intermediate, showing no significant difference from either VEna or SCom and BCom. There were no significant differences in surface roughness between any of the systems. Dental students and faculty members classified the groups polished with VEna, SCer, and BCer groups as clinically acceptable, and they selected BCer group as the best polished restorations and the control group as the least polished restorations. Ceramic and composite polishing systems produced similar polishing results as that observed using a company proprietary polishing system. However, effectiveness for polishing using a company proprietary and ceramic polishing system tends to be higher than composite polishing systems.

Cheating behaviors and related factors at a Korean dental school.

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate students’ cheating behaviors, perceptions, and risk factors for cheating.MethodsThe author conducted a questionnaire survey of 375 undergraduate students at the Dankook University College of Dentistry in 2017. The questionnaires consisted of three parts: individual information, a moral sensitivity test, and cheating behaviors. Students rated whether they were involved in 28 cheating behaviors and their intolerant attitude for each behavior. Each student received a cheating grade of severity and diversity from 0 to 4 according to the degree of commitment in cheating behaviors. Chi-square and correlation tests were performed among cheating grades, individual factors, and moral sensitivity.ResultsMost students admitted having engaged in at least one cheating behavior (92.2%). School years, intolerant attitudes towards cheating, perceived prevalence, study time, and academic performance showed significant correlations with students’ cheating grades.ConclusionThese findings indicated that cheating behaviors were a very serious and prevalent problem at this dental college in South Korea. This is a critical issue that must be addressed. Dental school faculty members need to work together to develop policies, ethics curriculum and to improve students’ attitudes. It is also important to encourage students to learn and devote their time to study to reduce cheating behaviors.

Open Wide and Say A-Ha: Adding Oral Health Content to the Nurse Practitioner Curriculum.

While aligning our nurse practitioner curriculum to the competencies of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, we realized that there was a lack of oral health content in our program. As we did not possess the knowledge needed to teach this content, we invited a dental school faculty member to do this for our class. This experience led to a change in the delivery of our teaching content through the use of the STAR Legacy Cycle model and the How People Learn theory. The purpose of this article is to share our journey with others.

What do dental college clinicians know about oral cancer and its risk factors? An assessment among final year students, interns and faculty members in saudi arabia.

BackgroundThe ability of health care professionals to perform oral cancer examination depends partly on their knowledge of the disease and its risk factors. This study aimed to assess and compare the knowledge of final year students, interns and faculty members regarding oral cancer and its risk factors.Material and MethodsA 35-item questionnaire about knowledge of oral cancer and its risk factors was distributed among participants from Jazan University’s Dental School. A minimum score of 18 was the cut-off point for an acceptable total score of oral cancer knowledge [OCTS]. Descriptive statistics described the relations between demographics variables and knowledge levels of participants. The differences between OCTS, diagnostic-clinical examination knowledge [DCK] and supportive knowledge [SK] and sex and occupation were analyzed using independent t-test and ANOVAs respectively.ResultsA total of 72 students, 68 interns and 88 faculty members completed the questionnaires (N = 228); with an average age of 23.8 ± 0.9 years, 25.1 ± 1.5 years and 40.6 ± 9.1 years with 55.1% males. OCTS was 20.2 ± 3.6 out of 35. No significant difference between OCTS and participants’ sex was found (t (203) = 1.342, p = .181, 95% CI for difference -.302 ــ 1.589). No significant differences in OCTS between students, interns and faculty members (F (2, 225) = 2.116, p = .123). A significant difference in SK between final year students, interns, and faculty members was founded (F (2, 194) = 5.62, p = .004).ConclusionsKnowledge of oral cancer and its risk factors among Jazan Dental School’s final year students, interns and faculty members is acceptable. However, due to the high rate of oral cancer in Jazan, emphasizing knowledge of oral cancer and its risk factors in the curriculum of Jazan Dental School is required. Key words:Oral cancer, risk factors, knowledge, dental education, curriculum, dental students, dentists.

Will a Short Training Session Improve Multiple‐Choice Item‐Writing Quality by Dental School Faculty? A Pilot Study

Faculty members are expected to write high-quality multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in order to accurately assess dental students' achievement. However, most dental school faculty members are not trained to write MCQs. Extensive faculty development programs have been used to help educators write better test items. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if a short workshop would result in improved MCQ item-writing by dental school faculty at one U.S. dental school. A total of 24 dental school faculty members who had previously written MCQs were randomized into a no-intervention group and an intervention group in 2015. Six previously written MCQs were randomly selected from each of the faculty members and given an item quality score. The intervention group participated in a training session of one-hour duration that focused on reviewing standard item-writing guidelines to improve in-house MCQs. The no-intervention group did not receive any training but did receive encouragement and an explanation of why good MCQ writing was important. The faculty members were then asked to revise their previously written questions, and these were given an item quality score. The item quality scores for each faculty member were averaged, and the difference from pre-training to post-training scores was evaluated. The results showed a significant difference between pre-training and post-training MCQ difference scores for the intervention group (p=0.04). This pilot study provides evidence that the training session of short duration was effective in improving the quality of in-house MCQs.

Faculty Development at One Midwestern Dental School: A Program Evaluation

Most dental school faculty members arrive on campus with a wealth of clinical experience but little to no teacher training. For the past two decades, there has been a call for schools to educate their faculty on a wide variety of topics including educational methodology and cutting-edge educational techniques through faculty development programs. Drawing on theories of general program evaluation as well as evaluation specific to educational programming, the aim of this study was to investigate outcomes of the Faculty Development Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry between 2007 and 2014. A mixed-methods research design gathered quantitative data via email survey sent to all eligible teaching faculty members; it received an overall response rate of 54% (N=51). Qualitative data came from open-ended survey questions and a focus group with seven volunteer faculty participants. The survey data suggested that the stated outcomes of faculty development were being met for all stakeholder groups with varying degrees of success. Focus group results indicated a need for a more formal new faculty orientation and better communication with all about the specific charge of faculty development within the school. Evaluation of faculty development activities in academic dental institutions is a necessary component of the ongoing improvement of dental education. Suggestions for future evaluations include the idea of collaborating with other dental schools to increase sample sizes, which would increase participants' perception of the level of confidentiality and make statistical analyses more robust.

Dental School Vacant Budgeted Faculty Positions, Academic Years 2011–12 Through 2013–14

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Survey of Dental School Faculty is conducted annually to provide an overview of the hiring and retention activity of U.S. dental school faculty. The survey collects data on the dental faculty workforce, including vacant budgeted positions by appointment and discipline, number of new and lost positions, sources of new hires, and reasons for faculty separations. This report highlights the results of three years of survey data, from the 2011-12 academic year through the 2013-14 academic year. After declining in previous years, the number of vacant faculty positions in U.S. dental schools has begun to increase, rising to 242 full-time and 55 part-time positions in 2013-14. Additionally, the number of schools having more than ten vacancies increased from five to 12. Although the number of vacancies has increased, the length of faculty searches that took more than one year declined from 25% to 16% in the same period. Retirements as a share of full-time faculty separations increased from 14% in 2008-09 to 31% in 2013-14. The current average retirement age of dental school faculty members is 69.7 years. The percentage of full-time faculty members leaving for the private sector remained constant over the last three years at approximately 16%. Full-time faculty members were more likely to be recruited from other dental schools, while part-time faculty members were more likely to come from the private sector.

Use of Social Media by Dental Educators

Social networking applications have become an established means of communication; applications that did not exist ten years ago are now used daily. Social media can be used for a myriad of reasons including instructional tools to supplement learning. This project was designed to assess the usage of social media applications by dental school faculty members and identify the types of accounts they prefer. Four hundred forty-three full-time dental and dental hygiene faculty members from five U.S. dental schools were invited to complete a twelve-item online survey regarding their social media usage. The response rate was 50 percent (n=221). Of the respondents, nearly half were dentists, and 62 percent were ≥51 years of age. Facebook was the most popular social network, reportedly used by 111 respondents. The most often reported frequency of use was weekly (20.4 percent, n=221); users indicated utilizing a network primarily for personal rather than professional purposes. However, 37 percent of the respondents reported not using any social media. The most frequently cited barriers to the use of social media were time (48 percent) and privacy concerns (48 percent). Although few would dispute the influence social media has on today's students, the suitability and appropriateness of social media technology and its integration into dental curricula require further evaluation.

Consumers’ Choice of Dentists: How and Why People Choose Dental School Faculty Members as Their Oral Health Care Providers

This study aimed to better understand how and why people choose dental school faculty members as their oral health care providers. Increasing financial constraints in U.S. dental schools have led their administrators to seek alternative funding sources, one of which can be revenues from dental school faculty practice. To effectively promote faculty practice, it is necessary to understand how and why one chooses a dental school faculty member as his or her oral health care provider. A survey of 1,150 dental school faculty practice patients who recently chose their dentist was conducted, and 221 responded. The information sources these respondents said they used and rated highly were other dentists, friends, family members, clinic website, the Internet, and the insurance directory. Dentist-related attributes that were perceived to be important were quality of care, professional competence of dentist, and explanation of treatment/patient participation in the treatment decision. Dental practice-related attributes perceived to be important were the ability to get appointments at convenient times, reasonable waiting time to get appointments, and attitude/helpfulness of staff. This study found that traditionally popular (family, friends) and newly emerging information sources (the Internet, clinic website, and insurance directory) were both used and perceived to be important by patients of the dental school faculty practice. Dental schools and dentists can use this study's findings to select appropriate communication channels to promote their practices and to focus on attributes that dental consumers value the most.

Dental School Faculty Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward the New Dental Therapy Model

The University of Minnesota School of Dentistry launched its new dental therapy program in September 2009 after the Minnesota state legislature had authorized the training and practice of a dental therapist in May of the same year. The creation of this mid-level dental provider is seen as a workforce solution to help address the problem of access to dental care experienced by some members of our society. However, there is a lack of consensus and even controversy in organized dentistry about dental therapy, one of the mid-level provider models. This study explored the attitudes and perceptions of dental school faculty members who have been tasked to prepare these new dental therapists to do their work. Focus groups were conducted with a randomly selected group of faculty members, the results of which were used to develop a survey of faculty members in all departments of the school. A total of 151 faculty members responded to the survey: 68 percent of these respondents were fifty-one years of age or older; 79 percent were male; and 39 percent were full-time and 61 percent part-time. Fifty-four percent were clinical faculty members, and the rest taught in the preclinical courses and basic sciences. The study found that these dental faculty members believe dentists have a personal responsibility in the care of the underserved but do not agree that the dental therapists are part of the solution to improve access. There was a clear divide between the part-time faculty members, who practice outside the institution, and the full-time educators with regard to the role of dental therapists. However, there was an overall consensus that dental faculty members have a commitment and responsibility to educate future dental therapists regardless of their personal position. This is encouraging to dental therapy students, who can be assured that they will receive the education they need to prepare them to practice.

Dental School Faculty Teaching the Periodontal‐Systemic Connection to Medical Students: A Pilot Mini‐Elective

Given the growing appreciation of systemic health, it is more important than ever that both medical and dental school graduates thoroughly understand the whole-body implications of infection and inflammation. In a 2007 survey of academic deans at North American dental schools, the majority reported being confident about their students' knowledge regarding periodontal-systemic disease connections, but perceived that most nurses and physicians in their university/health science center, geographic location, and in general were not knowledgeable about oral health and its relationship to systemic disease. Though the respondents in this study reported their schools could be doing more to educate their students on this topic, their general confidence in their faculties' knowledge and teaching abilities regarding oral-systemic associations suggests that dental faculty members may be well positioned to educate medical students in this area. In January 2009, faculty members of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and School of Medicine explored this possibility by pilot testing a mini-elective in which several dental school faculty members team-taught medical students about conducting oral exams and the systemic effects of oral diseases. This article gives an overview of this elective and its outcomes.

Transition of a Traditional Pharmacology Course for Dental Students to an Online Delivery Format: A Pilot Project

The purpose of this report is to describe the rationale and subsequent transition of a pharmacology course for dental students from a traditional face-to-face lecture format to online delivery using a course management system (CMS). A dental school faculty member with dental and pharmacology degrees and a Ph.D. was asked to serve as course director and to develop and implement a nontraditional course using the Blackboard CMS technology, which houses asynchronous course content materials, study guides, and online resource materials. Respondus software was used to create, manage, and administer weekly online quizzes. A comprehensive midterm and final examination were conducted in a traditional face-to-face setting. A survey was used to capture student satisfaction with this self-directed introductory pharmacology course. Participants were second-year dental students (Classes of 2011 and 2012). There was a survey response rate of 91 percent (179/197). The Likert-style survey questions produced ordinal data from which the median and interquartile range were calculated. On a scale in which 1=Poor, 5=Excellent, the median evaluation for the instructor was 4 (IQR=1.5). On a global question that asked how students rate the course overall, the median score was 4 (IQR=1.0). Results show that a majority of students were positive about the online delivery of the introductory pharmacology course and for many students this was their first online course experience. Resistance to self-directed learning was a theme with those students who rated the course poorly. In a comparison of overall course grades from the previous year, student performance in this course was much stronger. As a result of student feedback seeking more interaction with the course director, it was determined that the next time the course is offered there will be additional opportunities for greater face-to-face time with the instructor. Ongoing evaluation will be important as new teaching technologies emerge and are adopted for teaching and learning.

Minority Dental Faculty Development: Responsibility and Challenge

Over at least the last twenty years, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has given attention and priority to increasing the number of underrepresented minority (URM) dental school applicants, enrollees, and faculty members and to meeting the challenges of achieving diversity in the oral health workforce of the future as racial and ethnic minorities continue to grow and are expected to comprise more than 50 percent of the U.S. population by the middle of the twenty-first century. Dental schools have the responsibility of preparing dentists to provide oral health care for the nation's population. This includes creating a workforce of adequate size and racial/ethnic composition. As part of ADEA's priorities to improve the recruitment, retention, and development of URMs in the dental profession, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, ADEA launched the Minority Dental Faculty Development Program in 2004. The intent of the program is to foster academic partnerships, mentoring, and institutional commitment and leadership designed to increase the number of URM individuals interested in and prepared for careers in academic dentistry.

"Bioterrorism"- Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Faculty Members of Dental Schools of Uttar Pradesh, India

Objective : The purpose of this study was to assess Bioterrorism knowledge, attitude and practice among dentists serving as faculty members in dental schools situated in Uttar Pradesh. Design and Setting: Five among 28 Dental Schools in Uttar Pradesh (U.P) were randomly selected. The knowledge and attitude towards Bioterrorism was assessed by mailing a closed ended structured questionnaire with 24 questions which was pre-tested among 10 dentists of the same institution. Chi Square Test was employed for statistical analysis. Main outcome measures: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Bioterrorism among dental school faculty members. Results: Out of 150 questionnaire delivered, 115 returned (response rate = 76.6%). Only 7% of the survey respondents reported having Bioterrorism preparedness training. About 40% agreed that they could recognize oral manifestation of Bioterrorism agents. A high percentage (85.2%) was interested in participating in Bioterrorism response training. Conclusions: A low prevalence of prior training coupled with high degree of willingness to provide assistance in response to Bioterrorism suggests that a high priority should be established for providing dentists with the knowledge and training necessary to respond effectively in such an event.

Survey of Systematic Review Authors in Dentistry: Challenges in Methodology and Reporting

The study reported in this article had three objectives: 1) identify the challenges faced by authors of dental systematic reviews (SR) during the process of literature search and selection; 2) determine whether dental SR authors' responses to survey questions about their study methodology were consistent with the reported published methodology; and 3) assess whether dental SR authors' evidence-based publication experience was associated with reported methodology. Seventy-eight authors (53 percent) of dental SRs out of 147 potential authors published from 2000 to 2006 responded to an online survey. According to the respondents, the most challenging aspects of literature search and selection were the initial design and performing extended literature searches. Agreement between the protocol identified by SR authors on the survey and the actual protocol described in their publications was fair to moderate. There were virtually no correlations between authors' publication experience, systematic review literature search, and selection thoroughness except for the number of past SRs published, and no differences in thoroughness between SRs written by clinicians (dental practitioners in the community) and dental school faculty members. Dental SR authors do not appear to fully appreciate the importance of extensive literature searches as central to the validity of their systematic review methods and potential findings.

What the ADEA CCI Series of Articles Means to Me: Reflections of a Mid‐Career Dental Faculty Member

In this reflection article, Dr. Karen Novak, a mid-career faculty member at a U.S. dental school, identifies important messages and insights she gained from a series of twenty-one articles about the future of dental education published in the Journal of Dental Education from October 2005 to February 2009. This article addresses four questions: 1) What influence have these articles had on an academic dentist's perspectives about her role and priorities as a dental school faculty member and her own career plans and future directions? 2) What are the key messages in these articles for other dental educators who are at similar places in their careers? 3) What additional topics concerning the future of academic dentistry should be covered in future articles? and 4) What issues and priorities should receive the most attention from academic dentistry in the next decade? The American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) was established to provide a mechanism for stakeholders in academic dentistry to meet and consider future directions in the education of the nation's dental workforce. Along with ADEA, these stakeholders included dental schools, the American Dental Association (ADA) Board of Trustees, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL), the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE), the dental licensure community, the ADA Foundation, and advanced dental education programs. The ADEA CCI was created to build consensus within the dental community for innovative changes in the education of general dentists. One outcome of this process was a series of articles intended to raise awareness and stimulate dialogue about issues and forces shaping the future of dental education. Collectively, this series of articles is known as the Perspectives and Reflections in Dental Education (PRIDE) series to acknowledge the commitment of the academic dental community to reflect on current practices and future directions and also to represent the pride of dental school faculty members in their educational responsibilities and accomplishments.

What the ADEA CCI Series of Articles Means to Me: Reflections of a Dental School Dean

In this reflection article, Dr. Huw F. Thomas, a U.S. dental school dean, identifies important messages and insights he gained from a series of twenty-one articles about the future of dental education published in the Journal of Dental Education from October 2005 to February 2009. This article addresses three questions: 1) What influence have these articles had on a dental school dean's perspectives about his role and priorities? 2) What important messages are contained within these articles for fellow deans? and 3) What messages do these articles send to dental education in general? The American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) was established to facilitate change and innovation in dental education. Through the ADEA CCI, ADEA brought together stakeholders in academic dentistry: dental schools, the American Dental Association (ADA) Board of Trustees, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL), the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE), the dental licensure community, the ADA Foundation, and advanced dental education programs. The goal of the ADEA CCI is to provide a forum to build consensus within the dental community for innovative changes in the education of general dentists. As part of the consensus-building process, the ADEA CCI commissioned a series of articles, published in the Journal of Dental Education, to raise awareness and stimulate dialogue about issues and forces shaping the future of dental education and propose strategies to achieve desired enhancements. Collectively, this series of articles is known as the Perspectives and Reflections in Dental Education (PRIDE) series to acknowledge the commitment of the academic dental community to reflect on current practices and future directions and also to represent the pride of dental school faculty members in their educational responsibilities and accomplishments.