Background: "Inclusion oral health" (IOH) is an emerging framework focusing on developing innovative solutions to tackle oral health inequities. We intend to provoke reflection, stimulate discussion, and give students practice in responding to the needs of vulnerable population. Newer experiential teaching models have shown substantial potential for affecting values and behaviors of dental students towards underserved population. Hence, it was our aim to teach third-year dental students about IOH while simultaneously comparing the effectiveness of conventional and experiential teaching methods.
Method: All third-year dental students (n = 40) enrolled at a teaching dental hospital in New Delhi, India, were allocated into groups A (standard teaching, n = 20) and B (experiential teaching, n = 20). Data were collected from January to March 2023. A questionnaire based on the theme was used for pre-post assessment. A didactic lecture on the topic was delivered to both groups. Group B participants were further shown an educational movie and a field visit to a shelter. Reflections were collected from both groups using Rolfe et al.'s reflective model. Statistical and thematic analysis was performed.
Results: After the intervention, knowledge of group B participants (Δk = 28.9) was higher than A (Δk = 15.8) (p = 0.04). There was a shift in the attitude of students towards community service and social responsibility, especially among the group B participants. Thematic analysis of "Reflections" revealed 6 themes under 3 main domains.
Conclusion: Thematic analysis shed light on the learning continuum for creating socially-sensitive and proactive dental workforce. Contemporary concepts like IOH should be woven into the dental curriculum to introduce students to critical thinking and realistic problem-solving. Experiential teaching was effective in educating the concept through engagement and critical reflection.
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