Current Trends in Removable Partial Prosthodontics Teaching in Undergraduate Dental Colleges of Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To explore current trends in removable partial prosthodontics teaching in undergraduate dental colleges of Sindh, Pakistan. Study Design: Descriptive Cross-sectional. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of prosthodontics in dental colleges of Sindh in September 2019. Methodology:  A descriptive cross-sectional study was done in which a questionnaire was sent by email to head of Prosthodontics department of 16 dental institutes of Sindh, Pakistan. The survey included different questions regarding current trends in removable partial prosthodontics education in undergraduate dental colleges. Results: Out of sixteen questionnaires, fourteen were completely filled and returned. Majority (69.2%) of the institutes teach fabrication of removable partial dentures (RPDs) in third year of dental college. Students of only one dental college fabricate 10-12 RPDs in their clinical rotation. All dental colleges teach acrylic RPD construction in their preclinical years. Faculty in 12 (85.7%) dental colleges always give clinical demonstrations to students before their clinical rotations. Eleven out of the fourteen colleges teach cast partial dentures (CPDs) theoretically, but no CPDs are fabricated by the students during their clinical rotation. About 70% dental schools do not have in-house facility to fabricate cast partial dentures. Conclusion: This study describes current trends of removable prosthodontics teaching in undergraduate colleges of Sindh. A large majority of undergraduate dental students are not fabricating the minimum number of partial dentures as per PMC requirement. Although theoretically cast partial dentures are taught in lectures but students do not construct them in their undergraduate years. Efforts should therefore be made to improve teaching practices and clinical skills of undergraduates, for them to be able to treat partially dentate patients after graduation.