H.S. Brand, L.L.S. Tan, S.J. van der Spek, J.A. Baart
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, ACTA, The Netherlands

Background: Competency 6.34 of the Profile and Competences for the European Dentist states that a dentist must be competent at infiltration and block local anaesthesia in the oral cavity for restorative and surgical procedures, etc. Therefore, we investigated dental students’ opinion about theoretical and clinical training in European dental schools.

Methods: A link to a web based questionnaire was distributed among students of 25 European dental faculties. The questionnaire contained 34 questions about local anaesthesia teaching at the respondent’s dental school and the opinion of the respondent on this subject. For statistical analysis the software programme SPSS (version 12.0.1) was used.

Results: 954 questionnaires could be analysed. The beginning of the theoretical background of local anaesthesia and the initial teaching of the practical aspects showed a wide variation in the curriculum. Most students think the theoretical and hands-on teaching complement each other well with regard to study material and schedule. A textbook is frequently used as study material and most students are satisfied with this material. Many students felt insufficiently prepared when administering their first injection in patients. A minority of the students used a preclinical training model, but they found it a useful preparation. The first real injection is usually administered to a fellow dental student or a patient and supervised by a dentist or a dental surgeon / oral maxillofacial surgeon. Most students reported to be afraid of administering and receiving local anaesthesia. Assessment of local anaesthesia teaching differs between dental schools. Mandibular block, infiltration anaesthesia and mental nerve block are the most frequently taught techniques and students also like to receive teaching in intraligamentary anaesthesia. Many students suggest the implementation of a preclinical training model.

Conclusion: The results of this survey show a wide variation in local anaesthesia teaching programmes among European dental schools. This could cause difficulties when students would like to spend a study period at another dental school through exchange programmes.

Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to the following persons, who helped to distribute the questionnaire among the dental schools:
Marija Begovic (Serbia), Mariana Caramida (Romania), Kris Cochet (Belgium), Dina Dabic (Serbia), Edibe Dogan (Turkey), Irina Dragan (Romania), Victoria Gill (United Kingdom), Elisabeth Gruber (Austria), Mortada Jaber (Sweden), Ellen Jilsink (The Netherlands), Manon Langerak (The Netherlands), Ionut Luchian (Romania), Nikos Mattheos (Sweden), Marco Meleti (Italy), Aleksandar Milosavljevic (Sweden), Nikola Molnar (Slovenia), Andreea Moraru (Romania), Goce Naunov (Macedonia), Karthik Ramulu (United Kingdom),Tomasz Rogowski (Sweden), Marije van Roon (The Netherlands), Daire Shanahan (Ireland), Zuzana Siranko (Slovakia), Ana Stevanovic (Serbia), Emiliya Taneva (Bulgaria), Alba Torrado Varela (Spain), Cirimpei Vasile (Moldova), Christophe Verbanck (Belgium).