Objective:

Development of a minimum set of competencies in Cariology that every dentist graduated from a Dental School in Chile must have.

Methodology:

Starting from a meeting of scholars from the Universities of Talca and Chile (year 2011), an initial proposal for a curriculum was developed, based on the domains proposed by the European Cariology Curriculum (Schulte, et al, 2011). During 2016, this proposal was discussed through online dialogues and working groups, with the participation of 95.2% of the Chilean dental schools, which resulted in an intermediate document. This document was analyzed, discussed and refined during the Workshop for the Development of a Curriculum of Minimum Competencies in Cariology for Chilean Dental Schools (May 22, 2017, Talca, organized by the Universities of Talca and Chile) with the attendance of representatives from 95.2% of the Chilean dental schools, the Chilean Ministry of Health, Chilean College od Dentists and with the assistance of the professors of Cariology Margherita Fontana and Carlos González-Cabezas (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA). Each working group revised the document and provided feedback, which was incorporated in the final document by an advisory committee, elected on the day of the workshop, including the authors of the present article.

Results:

The Cariology Curriculum was organized in 5 Domains: 1. Basic knowledge; 2. Risk assessment, caries diagnosis and caries lesion detection; 3. Decision-making and non-operative preventive treatment; 4. Decision making and operative treatment; and 5. Evidence-based, clinical and public health practice. Operational definitions, main competencies and sub-competencies for each domain were agreed. Sub-competencies were classified into three levels: A: Be competent in; B: Have knowledge about, and C: Be familiar with. The final document was sent to all the participants of the workshop for dissemination in each of the institutions involved.

Conclusions:

The development of the Competency-based Curriculum in Cariology for undergraduate dental students at Chilean universities was achieved through consensus.

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