Current Status of Community Oral Health Education Among Iranian Dental Schools

Background: Community oral health (COH) courses have been integrated with the educational program in Iranian dental schools since the 1980s. The present study examined and described current COH delivery among Iranian dental schools. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire previously designed for a similar study in Europe, which was modified to be compatible with dental education in Iran. In early 2021, with the cooperation of the Council for Dental Education of the Iranian Ministry of Health, an invitation letter containing the survey link of the modified questionnaire was mailed to the deans of all Iranian dental schools. Reminder calls were made after 6 and 12 weeks. After 20 weeks, the link was closed, and no further responses were accepted. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Thirty-six deans of dental schools responded to the invitation (an 84% response rate). Half of the schools had COH departments, and COH PhDs headed the majority of the departments. The most prevalent academic rank among the heads of COH departments was assistant professor (56%). COH courses were dispersed throughout all six years of undergraduate programs, and COH PhDs (59%) and Community Medicine PhDs (47%) most commonly delivered COH courses. The most popular teaching methods were lectures (100%), outreach visits (77.8%), and online courses (72.2%). Most schools reported that they taught all six domains of COH, including philosophy and approach, public health and demography, health promotion, disease prevention and health care systems, dental workforce, and health planning. Conclusion: More than half of the dental schools had COH departments and used qualified teachers to teach their courses using well-developed programs and acceptable methods.