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Integrating e-health education in the public health dentistry curriculum
Pradnya V Kakodkar1, Sushma S Nayak2, Aswini Y Balappanavar3, VP Ramprasad4, Vartika Kathuria5
1 Professor, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2 Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, KLEVK's Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, India
3 Reader, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Teertankar Mahaveer Dental College, Moradabad, India
4 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, India
5 Senior lecturer, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, CDER, AIIMS, New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address:
Pradnya V Kakodkar
Professor, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
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Aim: Firstly, conduct a survey in all the dental colleges in India to collect information of the health education activities undertaken in their respective Public health dentistry department and Secondly, to review the literature, to know the applicability of IT for health education and recommend e-health education methods which can be included in the dental curriculum. Material and Methods: A multi-centre study was conducted among the 291 dental colleges in India. 7 item structured questionnaire was used and data was collected by telephonic interview. Pubmed search was initiated to obtain information on the applicability of IT in health education. Results: Of the 291 dental colleges, survey was completed in 193 colleges. The most common location for health education was schools. Lecture and demonstrations were widely used methods and visual and audio visual aids were used for health education. Only 21.2% reported of selecting urban location for health education. 77% always targeted lower class for health education. Literature review showed that CD-ROMS, Computer games, Internet and mobile phone applications and teledentistry can be successfully used by the dental students for health education. Conclusion: Keeping abreast with the developing advances in IT, the dental students should be given assignments based on e-health education methods |
