Paediatric Dentistry curriculum in under-graduate Dental courses in Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to collect information regarding the contents of paediatric dentistry developed in Brazilian undergraduate dental courses. For data collection, an electronic questionnaire was sent to each course and answered by the teacher of the discipline. In January 2017, according to the E-MEC website, 372 institutions offered dental courses in Brazil. Of these, 76 answered that the course was new and the contents had not yet been actually offered. Thus, the total sample was initially reduced to 296 institutions, among which 139 answered the questionnaire (response rate = 47%). The discipline of paediatric dentistry was generally offered in two semesters (42.4%), with an average workload of 84.5 hours for theoretical activities, 34.2 hours for laboratory practices. It was observed that 35.3% of the courses did not have laboratory activities. With regard to clinical activities, 38.1% did not provide care to children aged 0 to 3 years old and the average hours of clinical care for children older than 3 years old was 119.3 hours. The elements and dimensions discussed here should guide further investigation into the quality of training of the general dentist on the one hand, and on the other, into the curriculum of the discipline of paediatric dentistry.