Nutrition Education and Practice in University Dental and Oral Health Programmes and Curricula: A Scoping Review

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Kataoka, M
Adam, L
Ball, L
Crowley, J
McLean, R
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2024
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Introduction: Dentists and oral health practitioners have a potential role in supporting the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases. However, the extent to which university education prepares practitioners to provide nutrition care is unclear. This scoping review identifies and synthesises the evidence related to university-level nutrition education provided to dental and oral health students globally. Methods: A scoping review identified relevant literature through search terms “dentistry,” “oral health,” or “oral hygiene”; “dental students” or “dental education”; “nutrition education” or “nutrition science.” Articles were included that examined nutrition education in undergraduate oral health training; or nutrition knowledge, attitudes, confidence, or skills or dietary habits; experts' opinion papers; and position statements. No limitations on the publication years or languages of the articles were applied. Results: A total of 136 articles were included. Half were surveys of students (n = 49) or academic staff (n = 21). The remainder comprised reports of curriculum initiatives (n = 26), opinion papers or narrative reviews (n = 24), position statements (n = 6), curriculum development (n = 6) and curriculum guidelines (n = 9). While dental and oral health students and curriculum experts overwhelmingly recognised the importance of nutrition, most studies that assessed nutrition knowledge of students revealed limited knowledge. Students were not confident in their skills to provide nutrition care. Lack of nutrition experts on teaching teams and unclear expectations about developing nutrition competencies were identified as barriers to greater nutrition education. Conclusion: Nutrition education in university dental and oral health degrees is highly variable. The potential for oral health professionals of the future to promote oral health through nutrition is unrealised.

Journal Title

European Journal of Dental Education

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Dental Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Item Access Status
Note

This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.

Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Dentistry

Curriculum and pedagogy

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Kataoka, M; Adam, L; Ball, L; Crowley, J; McLean, R, Nutrition Education and Practice in University Dental and Oral Health Programmes and Curricula: A Scoping Review, European Journal of Dental Education, 2024

Collections