LSUHealthNO Hosts Dental Deans & Examiners

LSU Health New Orleans, in partnership with the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry, hosted the 62nd Southern Conference of Dental Deans and Examiners January 20-22, 2017.

It's an annual course for dental deans, state board presidents/examiners, and dental testing agency executives.

Last year, the Southern Conference of Dental Deans and Examiners' General Assembly voted to open up attendance to all dental schools, all state boards of dentistry, and all dental testing agencies. About 70 participants registered for this year's conference.

The overall objective of the conference was to show how digital dentistry and computer-assisted learning represent cutting edge technologies that can vastly improve student skills in restorative dentistry when used in a comprehensive educational program. Much of what can be accomplished utilizing computer-assisted learning involves self learning; therefore, less faculty oversight is required. These technologies provide computer-assisted assessment of the students' preparations and immediate feedback for improved remediation.

From a dental licensure examination perspective, it is possible that objective assessment of candidates' performance - using either Prep Check or Compare software - can provide irrefutable information to examiners as they make critically important pass/fail decisions on dental licensure examinations. At least two national dental testing agencies are investigating this potential.

On the leading edge of interprofessional education, LSU Health New Orleans shared its extensive expertise. As Louisiana's most comprehensive academic health sciences center, LSU Health New Orleans teaches students from multiple disciplines together to increase their knowledge, foster collaborative practice as a health care team and improve patient outcomes.

"The meeting was a tremendous success," notes Dr. Henry Gremillion, LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry Dean. "Participants remained engaged throughout the entire conference."