Community-based education programmes in the context of dental education: a scoping review

Background

Community education programmes are vital tools for teaching skills, such as understanding the larger cultural, economic and social determinants of health and how these factors impact people's health. It is currently unclear whether community education programmes in the field of dentistry deliver adequate value. This review aims to scope, collate and analyse globally published evidence concerning community education programmes in dentistry from inception, to gain an understanding of the intentions for these programmes and establish whether outcomes have shifted over time from the original intentions.

Methods

Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping reviews was employed to guide the reviewers. A systematic search of electronic databases and the reference lists in key papers was conducted.

Results

A systematic search concerning community education in dentistry identified a total of 140 papers for full-text evaluations. After further exclusions, 115 articles were selected for data charting. There was a lack of clarity in the literature concerning programmes' definitions and strategies for achieving intentions. Origins, intentions and motivations of the programmes were identified. The literature largely focused on assessing students' clinical treatment skills, contradicting the programme's original idea and intentions. Only a few studies incorporated patient and community perspectives, and the majority of assessments were self-reported, primarily by students.

Conclusions

There is broad interest in integrating community education into dental curricula to teach complex concepts, dental public health principles and to ensure professional skills development. We identified issues in the literature around programme definitions, strategies, measurement approaches and programme success requiring additional research.