Integration of oral healthcare into undergraduate health professional educational programs: A scoping review

Abstract

Background

Oral disease affects 3.5 billion people worldwide and despite this, it is not known the extent to which oral health education has been integrated into undergraduate health professional programs.

Aim

To explore the pedagogical approaches used to integrate and deliver oral health education across nursing and other non-dental health disciplines.

Review methods

A scoping review was conducted following the PRISMA-ScR extension guidelines in January 2021. CINAHL, Ovid MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Education Research Complete, ERIC, Nursing and Allied Health Database, PUBMED, NDLTD, and OHNEP were searched and screened, yielding 5,781 references with 18 studies eligible for inclusion. Findings were synthesised and presented as narratives and tables.

Findings

While an interdisciplinary learning approach of simultaneously teaching students from multiple disciplines was adopted in only three studies, the use of subject matter experts was reported in more than half of the studies. Delivery of learning material occurred in varied settings and the assessment of learning outcome effectiveness focused on changes in knowledge, attitude, confidence, and skills competence.

Discussion

Although only a few studies reported using interdisciplinary learning approaches, the use of subject matter experts in over half of the studies was a recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Nevertheless, the superiority of any one approach remains unclear, due to the heterogeneity in learning outcome measures.

Conclusion

Oral healthcare has been embedded in a small number of undergraduate educational programs, using a diverse range of pedagogical approaches. The use of subject matter experts should be commonplace when developing oral healthcare curricula.