The growing elderly population presents unique oral health challenges, necessitating curricular reforms in geriatrics within dental and healthcare education. Traditional dental curricula may not adequately prepare students to address these multifaceted needs.
An interprofessional approach integrates geriatrics into oral health education by fostering collaboration between dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and other healthcare fields. This model enhances students’ understanding of geriatric patient management, emphasizing comprehensive care, disease prevention, and patient-centered strategies. By incorporating interprofessional training, students develop a holistic perspective on aging and oral health, improving outcomes for elderly patients.
Curricular reforms should include case-based learning, clinical rotations in geriatric settings, and interprofessional education programs to strengthen collaborative skills. Such innovations ensure future healthcare providers are equipped to deliver optimal oral care for aging populations, in view of WHO call for healthy aging.
– Enhance Geriatric Training: Strengthen the focus on oral health challenges in the aging population within dental and healthcare curricula.
– Promote Interprofessional Collaboration: Encourage teamwork among dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and allied health students to improve comprehensive patient care.
– Address Unique Geriatric Needs: Equip future providers with the knowledge and skills manage age-related oral health conditions such as xerostomia, periodontal disease, and tooth loss.
-Monitor Drug-Interactions: Provide the knowledge to detect the effects of therapies, both systemic and local, on oral tissues with aging.
– Integrate Clinical Experiences: Implement hands-on training, including rotations in geriatric care settings, to improve practical skills.
– Encourage Patient-Centered Care: Foster holistic treatment approaches that consider the overall health and well-being of elderly patients.
– Develop Innovative Teaching Strategies: Introduce case-based learning, technology-driven simulations, and interdisciplinary discussions for effective education.
– Improve Healthcare Outcomes: Ensure graduates are prepared to provide high-quality, accessible, and preventive oral healthcare for older adults.
This Research Topic explores innovative geriatrics curricular reforms in oral health education, emphasizing an interprofessional approach. It seeks to address the gaps in traditional dental education by integrating geriatrics-focused training that enhances collaborative care among dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and allied health fields.
Authors are encouraged to contribute original research, systematic reviews, case studies, and educational models on themes such as:
• Interprofessional Education (IPE) in Geriatric Oral Health
Effects of systemic and local therapies on geriatric oral health
• Curriculum Development and Implementation Strategies
• Clinical Training and Rotations in Geriatric Settings
• Use of Technology and Simulation in Geriatric Dental Education
• Barriers and Challenges in Integrating Geriatrics into Dental Curricula
• Patient-Centered and Preventive Approaches for Elderly Oral Care
We welcome empirical studies, literature reviews, policy analyses, and innovative educational frameworks that contribute to advancing geriatric oral health education and improving healthcare outcomes for the aging population.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Case Report
- Classification
- Clinical Trial
- Community Case Study
- Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
- Data Report
- Editorial
- General Commentary
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Keywords: Geriatrics Dentistry, Curriculum, Interprofessional Education, Oral Health, Collaborative Practice
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
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