title: An online alcohol and oral health curriculum for dental students.
abstract: Regular heavy alcohol use can cause or worsen several oral health disorders and is associated with complications during and after dental procedures. Dental student education should provide detailed knowledge of these issues together with skills needed to detect and counsel patients with unhealthy drinking patterns. This project was designed to develop and evaluate a five-module, online program to teach dental students about alcohol and oral health, systemic and oral biological effects of heavy drinking, required changes to treatment protocols for heavy drinkers, reliable methods of alcohol screening, and ways to provide heavy drinkers with brief interventions. Results indicated that the online program resulted in significant changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. This online format could easily be incorporated into an already crowded dental school curriculum, with students learning the material at their own pace and in their own available time.
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, P.O. Box 250861, Charleston, SC 29425;. millerpm@musc.edu.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Michele C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ravenel
authors.forename: Mary P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Mauldin
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sulkowski
authors.forename: Arden
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lowndes
authors.forename: Suzanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D019212:Multimedia; D009862:Online Systems; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education*; D011361:Professional Competence
keywords: alcohol; dental education; dental students; online education; public health