Pediatric dental residents' on-call experience

Abstract

Purpose/objectives: The Commission on Dental (CODA) requires that pediatric dentistry training programs provide residents with clinical experiences in oral-facial injury and emergency care, as well as interprofessional patient care through hospital dentistry. These standards are often met through pediatric dental residents being on-call for children's hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe the on-call experience of pediatric dental residents at two urban children's hospitals.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study collected and analyzed data on the number, type, and time and date distributions of on-call pages received by pediatric dental residents over a 36-month study period.

Results: A total of 737 on-call pages were received. Each pediatric dental resident responded to 70 pages on average during their training. The most common reason for pages being received was inpatient consultation and oral-facial trauma. The mean number of pages received did not vary by year, month, or day of the week. There was a statically significant difference in the mean number of pages received by the hour of the day.

Conclusion: Having an on-call pediatric dental service in pediatric dentistry training programs is a meaningful way of exposing pediatric dental residents to oral-facial trauma, hospital dentistry, and interprofessional care.

Keywords: advanced dental education; dental trauma; interprofessional education; pediatric dentistry.