FUTURE OFDENTISTRY
THE DENTAL SCHOOL'S RESPONSIBILITY
TO SOCIETY
The 54 dental schools in the United States are
national resources that educate general dental prac-
titioners, dental specialists, and dental academics/
researchers. Dental schools develop new technolo-
gies and information of value to the nation as a
whole and provide important and much needed
direct services to their communities.
Society grants dentistry the privilege of self-regu-
lation in exchange for dental professionals' commit-
ment to their patients and the advancement of oral
health. Dental professionals maintain this responsi-
bility by committing to a defined set of professional
behaviors known as the Principles of Ethics and
Code of Professional Conduct, and by embracing
life-long learning through the pursuit of formal con-
tinuing dental education.
The fundamental objective of dental education is to
educate dental professionals to accept responsibility to
act in their patients' and society's interest. Society
allows universities analogous privileges of self-regula-
tion to enable the education of health care profession-
als, including dentists, to safeguard the public's health.
The nation's dental education institutions are cen-
tral to the nation's future oral health through their
contributions to:
u Education and training of the nation's dental
health professionals;
u Conduct of research and the generation of new
knowledge for application to oral health care; and,
u Direct provision of dental care services for the
public.
Professional education and training is the most wide-
ly recognized responsibility of dental schools. Virtually
all of the nation's dentists and a significant proportion
of all registered dental hygienists have been educated
and clinically trained in the nation's 54 dental schools.
The second responsibility of dental schools is to
conduct research. Advancing dental science is also
a well-recognized responsibility of dentistry.
The third responsibility, to provide direct patient
care, is central to students' clinical training and to fac-
ulty involvement in the dental education process. The
amount of patient care that schools are able to provide,
however, is limited in relation to the amount needed to
actually meet the public's oral health care needs.
The strength and leadership of the nation's dental
schools are essential to the achievement of these three
responsibilities. Unfortunately, the dental education sec-
tor is stretched to its limit and faces difficult challenges.
A greater sensitivity on the part of public and gov-
ernmental agencies regarding the resource needs of
the academic dental centers is needed if dental edu-
cation institutions are to continue to serve their obli-
gations to society.
The status quo, or worse, the diminishment in the
nation's dental education system exacerbate the
range and depth of the oral health challenges and
patient care deficiencies outlined in the Surgeon
General's Report on Oral Health in America (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).DENTAL SCHOOLS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTSThe University SettingA positive relationship between a dental school and its
parent university provides an environment that promotes
a scholarly, research-based approach to clinical excellence
in dental education (Haden and Tedesco, 1999).
However, in the early 1980s, it became apparent
that not all the university-based dental schools were
successful in maintaining that relationship. Dental
schools were burdened by operating with the high-
est per student educational costs on the campus.
Some had limited or unimpressive research pro-
grams. Faculty members and dental school leader-
ship did little to promote interaction with the rest of
the university community. And a surprising level of
antagonism to dental education emerged––from
within the practicing dental community itself.
The failure of some dental schools to meet the
academic and research norms of their parent insti-
tutions, together with the acknowledged high cost
of dental education, has compelled some university
leaders to examine how much their dental education
program contributes to the mission of the larger uni-
versity (Haden and Tedesco, 1999).
The dental education community did not antic-
ipate closure of its educational programs. In 1986, a
dental school was closed in Oklahoma. Between
1988 and 1993, five more universities closed theirDental Education