| CODE | ORC3105 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Dental Public Health 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Oral Rehabilitation and Community Care | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit covers the teaching in dental public health, and it builds on the principles of preventive dentistry taught in ORC2010. It consists of formal lectures, tutorials and fieldwork in the community. The fieldwork will involve visits to nurseries, schools, old people’s homes and outreaches in various localities with the Mobile Dental study-unit. Students will be expected to prepare and pilot a questionnaire as part of their research project which is a compulsory part of this study-unit. Students will also be expected to choose a research title and write a proposal and submit it for ethical approval. This study-unit focuses upon the broader picture of prevention at a population level, seeking to understand and explore the factors determining oral health and the most effective ways of preventing oral diseases and reducing inequalities in health. This study-unit provides a key link between different study-units within the dental curriculum. The main topics are: - epidemiology and trends in oral diseases; - principles of public health; - health care systems; - indices; - health strategies. The student will also be introduced to research methodology. Study-Unit Aims: - The aims of this study-unit are to ensure that the student understands the underlying principles of dental public health so as to be able to implement and evaluate community based preventive programmes for target populations and apply motivational and instructional techniques regarding patient dental education through community field experiences; - This study-unit aims to create awareness in students of the needs and responsibilities of each individual in the community and of the forces in the community which modify the delivery of a comprehensive health care service by the state. The study-unit also provides a general understanding of current health status , barriers to health care and social issues that influence health outcomes; - This study-unit also provides knowledge on how diverse and alternative health care systems function. In addition the students are introduced to basic epidemiology and to the different indices available for describing prevalence and incidence of dental diseases in specified population groups; - The students will also be introduced to research methodology to give them the opportunity to design and pilot a questionnaire as well as write a research proposal and submit it for ethics approval as part of their final dissertation. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - List the core principles of dental public health; - List the principles of measuring dental disease; - List the indices used to measure dental disease; - Explain the theoretical basis for changing attitudes and behaviour by education; - Describe the local organisation and provision of health care in the community and in the hospital service; - Explain the functions of the different members of the dental team and the role of the dental surgeon in a multidisciplinary team; - Outline the underlying social, cultural and environmental factors which contribute to health or illness; - Describe the principles involved in carrying out research particularly in designing questionnaires and searching for information and evidence; - Record caries and other dental hard tissue disorders using appropriate indices at different disease levels in a public health setting; - Describe the epidemiology of oral diseases in relation to different background variables such as age, general health and socioeconomic status; - Formulate strategies to overcome barriers to dental care for disabled, elderly, socially deprived and ethnic minority groups. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply the principles of health promotion and disease prevention via comprehensive preventive measures to individuals and the community according to their risk assessment status (during practice placement and on a one is to one basis when treating patients during clinical practice); - Assessing health-related behaviours and induce changes; - Identify special treatment needs of the elderly; - Manage patients from different social backgrounds; - Demonstrate appropriate information literacy to acquire and use information from the library and other databases; - Implement sterilisation, disinfection and antisepsis, and cross infection control in practice; - Design and pilot a questionnaire and start small research projects; - Write a research proposal and Participate in an epidemiological surveillance study; - Communicate effectively with members of the dental team. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Recommended Textbooks: - Essential Dental Public Health (2nd Edition) Blanaid Daly, Richard Watt, Paula Batchelor, and Elzabeth Treasure Oxford University Press ISBN-13 978-0199679379. - Community Oral Health Cynthia Pine, Rebecca Harris Quintessence Publishing ISBN 978-1-85097-162-7. - Basic Epidemiology R Bonita, R Beaglehole, T Kjellstrom World Health Organisation ISBN 92 4 154707 3. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Fieldwork, Ind Study, Lect, Prac, Proj, Semi & Tut | ||||||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Maria Luisa Gainza-Cirauqui Anne-Marie Agius Nikolai Attard Stefan Buttigieg Gabriella Gatt Pauline Vassallo |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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