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Review
. 2025 Feb;41 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):90-96.
doi: 10.1111/edt.13022. Epub 2024 Dec 11.

Enhancing, Targeting, and Improving Dental Trauma Education: Engaging Generations Y and Z

Yuli Berlin-Broner  1 , Liran Levin  2
Affiliations
Review

Enhancing, Targeting, and Improving Dental Trauma Education: Engaging Generations Y and Z

Yuli Berlin-Broner et al. Dent Traumatol. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Dental trauma is highly prevalent, involving 25% of school-age children and about 12.5% of the general population of the world. Due to the young age of the patients that are usually involved in dental trauma, there are tooth-related complicating factors, such as open apices, thin dentinal walls, and unfavorable crown-to-root ratio, as well as patient-related factors, such as anxiety and cooperation, and other challenges related to the complex diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is not surprising that the global status of knowledge for the prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries among dental professionals was often reported as insufficient. Aiming to improve dental trauma education, one should consider that the contemporary educational settings have transitioned to a digital learning ecosystem and that the current students belong to a unique generational cohort. Therefore, this paper examines the challenges educators encounter in contemporary dental school classrooms and the defining characteristics of current generation Y and Z dental student cohorts. Finally, it outlines strategies to optimize dental trauma learning, considering the unique generational characteristics of the current dental students.

Keywords: digital learning; educational strategies; evidence‐based education; generational learning differences; health care education; interactive teaching; modern dental training; real‐time resources.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Challenges in dental trauma education.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Methods to enhance dental trauma education to Generations Y and Z dental students.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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