General Dentistry Restorative Curriculum's Adaptation to Restorative Dentistry Service Needs

Background and Objective: The main aim in medical education is teaching students to carry out certain duties in future. The Restorative Dentistry is a very important dental practice in our country. The aim of this study was to determine General Dentistry restorative curriculum's adaptation to restorative dentistry service needs in community. Materials and Methods: In this quantitative cross-sectional study consisting of two phases, data was gathered by two valid and reliable checklists. In first phase, the restorative dental ‎services of ‎‏1027‏ patients in a dental clinic sampled over a period of three months were analyzed by statistical software SPSS‏17. ‏‎and the results were reported. In the second phase, we provided a list of syllabuses and restorative lessons with summarized results of the first phase to Tehran and Shahed University restorative faculty members and asked them to express their views about General Dentistry ‎restorative curriculum's adaptation to the analyzed needs in last phase and results were reported. Results: In first phase, 2362 cases of the restorative service were considered. The results showed ‎that all the syllabuses of restorative curriculum met the restorative needs of the patients. But the amount of time allocated to teaching “theoretical cardiology” and “practical restorative dentistry3” did not meet the students' needs. Conclusion: Restorative lessons syllabus was suitable but time was not sufficient. So the amount of time of teaching should be added to fix the deficiency, so that the quality of education can be promoted. For this purpose using new methods of education via educational package, films and modules may be useful.