- The new Preclinical Dental Laboratory of the UVic-UCC Faculty of Medicine is a space where students learn basic and advanced techniques in a controlled environment before working with real patients
- The introduction of the degree in Dentistry is designed to train students so that they gain an overview of the profession
The history of dentistry has some curious episodes: the Phoenicians made dental prostheses out of gold thread and animal parts or wood; the Egyptians treated phlegmons with cumin, frankincense and onion; the Greeks cleaned their teeth with honey, salt and ash, and in the Middle Ages it was barbers who pulled out damaged teeth (and acted as surgeons). Dentistry as we know it today dates back to the seventeenth century, when the Frenchman Pierre Fauchard gathered all the knowledge he had on the subject in a volume, which became the first scientific work on dentistry, after which oral problems began to be treated beyond merely extracting teeth.
We owe it to science to be able to enjoy services and professionals who inform and guide us to take care of our oral health
Fortunately, the field has evolved a lot since then. Although going to the dentist is still a source of worry for many, modern techniques allow the population to enjoy great pain-free oral health and to have information on taking care of their mouth properly to help prevent future problems. It has not been easy to reach this point, and we owe it to science to be able to enjoy services and professionals who not only treat us, but also inform and guide us to take care of our oral health.
The training and expertise of dentists today is crucial to guarantee the presence of professionals in dental centres who can prevent and treat oral diseases in the population. However, before dentists reach clinical practice, they must have been conscientiously trained. With this aim in mind, the new Preclinical Dental Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) prepares students for everything they will encounter in clinical practice: from the operation of tools and materials in the consulting room, to the treatment of tooth decay and gums.
Simulated environtment, real learning
The Preclinical Dental Laboratory is in the Can Baumann building, in the Faculty of Medicine of the UVic-UCC. It is a space of 350 m² divided into two rooms. The first room is smaller and is where practical workshops are carried out, such as correct hand washing, disinfection procedures, carving teeth with soap, creating molds or suture techniques. The second room is large and equipped with a dentist's chair and 37 workstations, each of which has a phantom, a device that simulates the human mouth and its different parts. These phantoms allow students to become familiar with dental treatments through simulation before ever stepping foot in a clinic. These anatomical models designed for dental practical activities accurately simulate the oral and dental anatomy, an aspect that facilitates being able to practice extraction procedures, restorations or endodontics with great fidelity to real situations. In addition, the workbenches are ambidextrous, to accommodate all students. The teacher's workspace is equipped with a camera that projects an image of it through monitors installed in different parts of the laboratory, for better monitoring of real-time practice by all students.
"Our goal is for students to reach clinical practice ready to carry out practical activities on real patients, thanks to this laboratory"
"The materials they use are those they will find in the clinic,” explained Rosa Moreno, vice-dean of the degree in Odontology at the UVic-UCC Faculty of Medicine. "Both the dentist's chair and the station tools are designed to make a simulation as accurate as possible, which means that students are ready to treat patients once they arrive at the clinic," she added. Moreno also explained that in the near future the laboratory will have more equipment to carry out practical activities, such as intraoral scanners and 3D printers, which make it possible to design and print a dental crown, tools to make digital radiographs and more specialised phantoms for extractions and the application of local anaesthesia, which are more realistic in aspects such as noises and materials.
Dentistry, from theory to practice
This year, the degree in Dentistry at UVic-UCC has started its second year with successful registration. The students who inaugurated the degree last year will carry out practical sessions on anaesthesia, surgery and oral medicine using the various phantoms in the Preclinical Laboratory. It is in the third year that students will begin to apply the knowledge they have acquired in real environments, such as outpatient clinics or the University Dental Clinic (COU+). There, they will see professionals carrying out their work in real environments and will start to treat patients themselves.
However, the training will continue to be supplemented with the use of phantoms and cadavers, in the latter case in the Clinical Anatomy and Dissection Laboratory, which is also located in the Faculty's facilities. "In the third year, they will practically live in the Preclinical Dental Laboratory,” explained Rosa Moreno, regarding the students who are now in the second year. She added that "basically, they will do a lot of practical activities and simulations, such as the treatment of periodontal diseases or the various treatments for tooth decay." She stated that this step-by-step approach means that students are fully prepared before they treat real patients. In the fourth and fifth years, the practical activities will intensify with more complex clinical cases and work with real patients in the Dental Clinic.
COU+: Combinating teaching and healthcare activity
The University Dental Clinic (COU+), which will be located on the UManresa Campus of the UVic-UCC, will open its doors in March 2025 and will function as a real clinic, which will combine teaching and care activities. It will offer dental services to the general population. Patients will be treated by dentists who will combine teaching and research at the University with professional practice. The COU+ will start its activity before the arrival of the third-year students, in order to initiate the operation of its healthcare activities. The aim of COU+ is for degree students to have access to all kinds of procedures, both basic and specialised. In addition to bachelor’s degree students, the COU+ will house the activity of the advanced vocational training cycle (CFGS) in Dental Prosthodontics, taught by the Professional Campus of UManresa. In addition, continuous education will be increased with future postgraduate and master's programmes of the UVic-UCC.
"The University Dental Clinic will allow students access to different types of procedures and interventions with specialised professionals"
As the vice-dean Rosa Moreno explained, one of the problems faced by undergraduate dental students on placements is that "sometimes they cannot access certain procedures because they are being done by specialised master's degree or postgraduate students.” This means that on completion of their bachelor’s degree studies, they may not have done enough practice or they may not have acquired skills in all fields. "This is why the Clinic will allow undergraduate students access to different types of procedures and interventions,” she stated, "so that they become familiar with the different types: paediatrics, endodontics, prosthetics or rehabilitation, among others.” We also want students to be able to attend interventions carried out by specialised professionals at the COU+. "There is practically no university in Catalonia or in Spain where there are dentists in the university clinic offering dental treatment to patients,” stated Moreno.
At the same time, the Faculty of Medicine is completing the design of a joint project with the Hospital Consortium of Vic and the University Hospital of Santa Creu that will allow a University Dental Clinic to be set up in the facilities of this hospital, also with the aim of offering continuous training.