The need for competency-based training in dental urgent care.

VOLUME 46 • NUMBER 6 • JUNE 2015 The primary goal of dental education is to train dental professionals who can competently address a wide range of issues in oral health care and independently practice evidence-based comprehensive dentistry aimed at improving the health of society.1 Competency-based education as a philosophy has widely been adopted by dental schools worldwide for both undergraduate and postgraduate dental programs.2-4 However, careful examinations of dental school curricula reveal significant shortfalls in important aspects of competencies required for an independent general practitioner, especially for those related to diagnosis and management of dental diseases and conditions that require urgent and immediate care. Competency in the context of dental education entails foundation knowledge, foundation skills, and professional attitudes and values necessary for delivering oral health care to populations of different ages, gender, and socioeconomic status. Much of the required competencies can only be acquired in a dental urgent care setting, for example diagnosis and management of acute dental pain, acute pulpal and periapical infections, dental trauma, and acute periodontal and pericoronal infections. Competencies associated with professionalism, ethical values, and social responsibilities are often best demonstrated when dental practitioners face patients who need urgent dental care but lack the financial means to adequately compensate the provider. Competency-based training in dental urgent care is especially important for dental educational programs in the United States or in other countries that lack universal healthcare coverage for treating dental diseases. Yanfang Ren Linda Rasubala The need for competency-based training in dental urgent care