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Gill, Mandeep

University of British Columbia

Purpose: This study aimed to explore UBC’s part time sessional instructors’ knowledge of the principles of minimal intervention dentistry (MID). Methods: A qualitative exploratory approach of inquiry was used, and purposeful selection identified sessional instructors for semi-structured interviews. The interview guide presented 3 clinical caries management scenarios with questions exploring the participants’ knowledge of the five domains of cariology and minimal intervention management: knowledge base, risk assessment, diagnosis, synthesis, and choice of surgical/non-surgical therapy. Interviews were conducted over Zoom, audio recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted with an interpretive deductive-inductive approach. Results: Nine interviews were completed. The participants consisted of 6 males and 3 females between 55-76 years of age, with 32-45 years of private practice experience, and who had taught anywhere between 3-19 years. The thematic analysis led to the identification of two themes and their respective categories: Foundational knowledge - caries detection methods, caries detection limitations, evaluating lesion activity, categorizing caries risk, selective versus complete dentin removal, and pulpal diagnosis; and Caries management decision making - adherence to oral health measures, diagnostic uncertainty and assessment of cavitation, patient cooperation, and economics. Conclusions: There has been a paradigm shift in managing caries from traditionally being invasive to one that is less invasive and has been coined as MID. Participants had varying favorable knowledge of MID. Uncertainties and inconsistencies arose when applying the principles of MID to manage carious lesions that were non-cavitated and cavitated. As dental schools depend upon community dentists to support clinical teaching programs, it would be advisable to consider providing continuing education for sessional instructors to help ensure consistent, evidence-based clinical teaching of caries management.

Text

2022-08-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82323

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/