Sealants: training and educational needs for dental students and dental auxiliary students

A program of instruction in pit and fissure sealants has been described that includes didactic, preclinical, and clinical components (Table 4). The entire program requires the equivalent of three curriculum days. However, reinforcement of the principles of the technic should continue during the students' entire clinical training period. There are 203 accredited dental hygiene programs and 285 accredited dental assistant programs in the United States. Enrollment in these programs during the 1982-83 academic year was 10,051 hygiene students and 7,977 assisting students. Since 29 states currently allow dental hygienists to apply sealants and 11 states allow dental assistants, there is a compelling reason for sealants to be included in the curriculum of dental auxiliary programs. Unfortunately, other than Dr. Terkla's brief survey, there is no reliable information on the number of auxiliary programs that teach sealants, nor are there curriculum guidelines on sealant instruction for these programs. Nevertheless, the same training outlined in this article for dental students applies equally for dental hygiene and assisting students. A controversial question is whether clinical training in sealant application should be part of the curriculum of dental auxiliary programs in states that only allow dentists to apply them. This is not a question that can be resolved in this article, but must be considered at the individual schools involved. In these situations, a careful balance must be achieved between the academic freedom to teach current practices in dentistry and the dental practice acts of the state. The first commercially available pit and fissure sealant was marketed in 1970.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)