2010 Volume 53 Issue 5 Pages 525-533
The Society for Endodontic Education aims to create an appropriate dental training system for the future. As the first step, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the instruments, materials and medicines used for endodontic practice in Japanese dental schools. The subjects were 29 endodontic departments responsible for education on endodontology and endodontics at dental schools across Japan. The response rate to the questionnaire was 100%. The results showed that there were differences not only among schools but also between the clinic and practice even in the same school. It is believed that the causes of differences among schools are different from those within one school. The causes of the differences among schools are believed to be that some endodontic procedures are not standardized nationwide, and that there are various contents of education among schools. On the other hand, the causes of the variations between the clinic and practice are the different criteria for selecting instruments, materials and medicines. While clinics tend to select advanced instruments, materials and medicines, in practice they need to follow the Outline of Dental Education, Model Core Curriculum for Dental Education, OSCE, and questions on the national dentist examination. Therefore, it is believed that there is a time lag in the selection of instruments, materials and medicines between clinic and practice. A comprehensive analysis is needed in order to decide whether these differences are to be eliminated or not. We need to examine the link between this difference and the educational effect in order to improve practice education.
