OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore how people aged 65 years and older experience their orofacial appearance (OA).

METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 strategically recruited participants aged 65-79 years from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care-Blekinge (SNAC-B) in Karlskrona. A semi-structured interview guide was developed, and the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns in the data.

RESULTS: The older adults' experience of their OA was represented in four themes: (i) you kind of have to like the situation as it is now-to accept orofacial appearance in its current state; (ii) an ageing orofacial appearance-a slow continuous downhill slope; (iii) looking good for others to fit the social norm; and (iv) keeping up orofacial appearance-seemingly without effort.

CONCLUSION: The older adults in this study had a dual perception in relation to their own OA. Although society often values a younger looking appearance, striving for a youthful appearance is seen negatively, which may potentially reflect the complexities of the perceptions of one's own ageing OA. Only those with dental issues found the impact of teeth on OA perception to be particularly significant.

Introduction: Continuing professional development is a lifelong learning process. One pedagogical approach that can be used is active learning. Flipped classroom is a method that has been shown to improve deeper conceptual understanding. In an online setting, the method saves travel, time, and costs. To our knowledge, flipped classroom is rarely used in continuing professional education. This study in general dentistry explored experiences of an online flipped classroom course in continuing professional development.

Materials and Methods: Fifteen dental hygienists, clinically active in general dental care, were interviewed. They were recruited from an online course on the latest classification system for periodontal diseases. The course had been conducted using an active learning and flipped classroom model. The interviews were semi-structured. Data were extracted using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The experiences of the dental hygienists could be summarized in three themes: Stimulation of knowledge gain through self-paced studies, The ease of virtual networking among colleagues, and Fostering of direct practical application through collaboration.

Conclusion: New and emerging communication technology seems to open new possibilities for continuing professional development in general dentistry. Study participants felt that, in an online environment, mixing asynchronous and synchronous communication in a flipped classroom model facilitated learning in continuing professional development. Online active learning seems to work well in continuous professional development in general dentistry. After the course, the participating dental hygienists stated that they were able to use their new knowledge clinically and felt confident doing so.

Introduction: Portfolio with a collection of evidence has become popular in higher education, including dental education. It is valuable to study the experiences of the use and implementation processes. Meta-ethnography can be a suitable method to analyse, synthesize and construct interpretations of qualitative research. Our aim was to explore experiences from the use of a portfolio/e-portfolio in dental education, from the students' and teachers' perspectives.

Materials and methods: A systematic search in the databases PubMed, Scopus and ERC was performed, and the established seven steps of a meta-ethnographic review were used. 278 papers were initially identified, and seven were included in the final analysis.

Results: Two themes (Issues to Address and Consequences) and five subthemes (Purpose, Roles, Support and Structure, Challenges and Enablers, and Gains) were constructed.

Discussion: Our synthesis reflects various challenges, yet the learning gains are recognized and expressed to be important once the students and teachers have overcome early thresholds. Beyond the conclusions drawn in each paper, our synthesis provides new perspectives on the complexity of an implementation process and the balance of not seeing the woods for the trees being overwhelmed by technical and other practical aspects, reducing the opportunity for learning.

Conclusion: The portfolio implementation in undergraduate dental education should address clarification to all stakeholders of the purpose and role, presenting a purposeful portfolio structure and timely support.

Objective: The study aimed to compare self-perceived oral health and orofacial appearance in three different cohorts of 60-year-old individuals. Method: A cross-sectional design, based on data obtained from a questionnaire used in the Swedish National Study of Aging and Care. The sample comprised 478 individuals, from baseline, 2001-2003 (n = 191), 2007-2009 (n = 218) and 2014-2015 (n = 69). Comparisons were made within and between the cohorts, with bivariate analysis and Fisher's exact test. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05. Results: The result showed that a low number of the participants reported self-perceived problems with oral health. Of the problems reported, a higher proportion in cohort 2014-2015 (39.3%) experienced problems with bleeding gums. The experience of bleeding gums increased between the cohorts 2001-2003 and 2014-2015 (p = 0.040) and between 2007-2009 and 2014-2015 (p = 0.017). The prevalence of discomfort with sensitive teeth was experienced in 7%-32%. Twice as many women compared to men experienced discomfort in all cohorts (no significant differences between the cohorts). Satisfaction with dental appearance was experienced in 75%-84%. Twice as many women compared to men were dissatisfied with their dental appearance in 2001-2003 (p = 0.011) and with discoloured teeth (p = 0.020). No significant differences could be seen between the cohorts regarding discomfort with dental appearance or discoloured teeth. Conclusion: The 60-year-olds irrespective of birth cohort, perceived their oral health and orofacial appearance as satisfactory.

Objectives: To analyze whether self-perceived oral health and orofacial appearance change with increasing age. Methods: This longitudinal study is based on data from a questionnaire used in the Swedish National Study of Aging and Care. The sample comprises 160 participants 60 years of age at baseline 2001-2003. The same participants were re-examined at 66-, 72-, and 78 years of age. To analyze whether perceptions of oral health and orofacial appearance changed with increasing age, Cochran's Q test was conducted. Statistical significance was considered at p <= 0.05, and the calculated value Q must be equal to or greater than the critical chi-square value (Q >= 7.82). Significance values have been adjusted for the Bonferroni correction for multiple tests. Results: Self-perceived mouth dryness, both day (Q = 7.94) and night (Q = 23.41), increased over the 18-year follow-up. When divided by gender, significant differences were only seen for mouth dryness at nighttime. A decrease in sensitive teeth was perceived with increasing age, and an increase in self-perceived satisfaction with dental appearance, and a decrease in self-perceived problems with dental gaps between the ages of 60 and 78. These changes were, however, not statistically significant. Men experienced a higher proportion of discomfort with discolored teeth at age 78 than at 60 (Q = 9.09). Conclusions: Self-perceived oral health and orofacial appearance were relatively stable, with few changes over an 18-year follow-up.

Aim: This study aims to increase understanding and knowledge of how learning activities and interventions related to professionalism in the use of social media are designed and evaluated within dentistry and medicine programs and how learning theories are applied in these contexts. 

Methods: To address this aim, a scoping literature review was performed through systematic searches in PubMed, Scopus, and ERIC databases. A quality appraisal of included studies, the Critical Appraisal Checklist, was performed.

Results: Seven studies were included in the final analysis. Four studies described lectures with interactive elements such as discussions and polls and three collaborative learning through small group discussions. Cases and reflective exercises were used in nearly all the studies. The learning activities were evaluated by measuring students’ perceptions of the learning activities and their social media behavior. One of the studies investigated students’ actual change in behavior. Students appreciated interactions and discussions on dilemmas and expressed that professionalism in social media was something they had not considered before the intervention. The included studies included adult learning theory, collaborative learning, planned behavior theory (TPB), and Kolb’s theory of learning and development.  

Conclusion: The research on learning activities for professionalism in the use of social media in dental and medical education is limited in the number of studies and their quality. Collectively, the existing research contributes to the field by showing similar results. Learning activities could preferably be designed to be active and collaborative with actual cases. 

The FDI World Dental Federation suggests that "dentistry, as a profession, should integrate Sustainable Development Goals into daily practice and support a shift to a green economy in the pursuit of healthy lives and wellbeing for all, through all stages of life." This article reports on the recent activity of the Association for Dental Education in Europe Special Interest Group for Sustainability in Dentistry. Following on from the group's previous activities, which explored current educational practice, this work aimed to reach a pan-European consensus on a number of learning outcomes for environmental sustainability, in order to (i) support institutions in designing and delivering their curriculum, and (ii) to further harmonise the delivery of oral health professional education across Europe. This article presents specific learning outcomes relating to environmental sustainability and recommendations relating to curriculum development, including methods of teaching and assessment.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have a pivotal role in fulfilling the social dimension of sustainability and contributing to a complex changing society. To meet these challenges, Malmö University has in interdisciplinary groups researched the role of challenge-based learning (CBL) in relation to staff, students, disciplines, and stakeholders. This position paper is based on that work. Malmö University argues that with a CBL approach, HEIs will actively contribute to the building of a sustainable learning society through collaboration in education, research, and innovation. This paper theoretically explores the CBL approach as a collaborative learning exchange within HEIs and society at large. CBL is defined through eight key elements, clustered as entities of three domains: diversity and inclusion, co-creation and collaboration, and change agents and contextual challenges. These are discussed and empirically exemplified with the purpose to support designing, planning, and accomplishing CBL in teaching and learning in HE for a global learning society.