A survey of paediatric caries management teaching within dental therapy programmes in the UK

Objective To assess didactic and clinical skills teaching of conventional and alternative treatment techniques for the management of dental caries in paediatric dentistry in dental therapy schools across the UK.Method A structured online questionnaire was developed using SurveyMonkey. The survey link was emailed to all teaching leads for all 22 dental therapy schools throughout the UK. The survey was open online for three months.Results Data were obtained for 20 schools. Regarding didactic and skills teaching of conventional techniques, the majority of schools taught complete caries removal and plastic restoration. Additionally, most taught both pulpal therapy and pre-formed metal crown placement for the primary dentition. In relation to alternative techniques, favoured teaching options related to no or minimal caries removal with prevention or some form of sealant restoration, including for the primary dentition use of the Hall Technique.Conclusions Both conventional and alternative treatment techniques for the management of dental caries within paediatric dentistry appear to be taught within dental therapy programmes in the UK.