Does the teaching of caries risk assessment foster preventive-minded dental students?

Introduction: Nurturing preventive-minded dental students has been a fundamental goal of dental education. However, students still struggle to regularly implement preventive concepts such as caries risk assessment into their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to identify areas in the cariology curriculum that could be revised to help address this. Methods: A total of 10 individuals participated and were divided into two focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was conducted, and key themes were identified based on their frequency of being cited before the final report was produced. Results: Three major themes emerged: (1) Greater need for integration between the pre-clinical and clinical components of cariology; (2) Limited time and low priority that the clinical phase allows for practising caries prevention; and (3) Differing personal beliefs about the value and effectiveness of caries risk assessment and prevention. Participants cited that while didactics were helpful in providing a foundation, they found it difficult to link the concepts taught to their clinical practice. Furthermore, participants felt that they lacked support from their clinical supervisors, and patients were not always interested in taking action to prevent caries. There was also heterogeneity amongst students with regards to their overall opinion of the effectiveness of preventive concepts. Conclusion: Nurturing preventive-mindedness amongst dental students may be limited by the current curriculum schedule, the prioritisation of procedural competencies, the lack of buy-in from clinical supervisors, and a perceived lack of relevance of the caries risk assessment protocol and should be addressed through curriculum reviews.