Feasibility of a New Methodology for Dental Education in Temporomandibular Disorders through Virtual Patient-Based Learning

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) involve pain and dysfunction in the masticatory muscles, temporomandibular joint, and associated structures, affecting about 30% of the population. Despite its prevalence, effective TMD management faces challenges due to a limited understanding among dental professionals which derives from inadequate education during their training. The establishment of Orofacial Pain as a new dental specialty in 2020 prompted the inclusion of TMD education in predoctoral dental programs across US dental schools from July 2022. However, the extent of TMD education varies significantly in terms of content and expertise of faculty delivering the teaching. Moreover, due to the limited number of orofacial pain specialists within predoctoral dental schools, many TMD patients are referred elsewhere for treatment or considered outside the scope of the university, leaving dental students with insufficient clinical exposure to TMD cases during their training. Given these gaps in knowledge with the present modalities of education and the limited clinical exposure to TMD cases offered by most predoctoral dental institutions to their students, there is a critical need to explore new educational methodologies to overcome these issues. The proposed project aims to address these critical gaps by developing and testing a virtual patient-based learning (VPBL) methodology, incorporating real patient data into interactive clinical scenarios and integrating it in the TMD curriculum of a predoctoral dental school lacking an orofacial pain program. The appropriateness and comprehensiveness of the virtual patient clinical scenarios will be reviewed and tested by experts in the field (Aim 1). Subsequently, the feasibility and utility of this new technological and educational methodology will be assessed among third- and fourth-year dental students at a predoctoral dental school with a REDCap questionnaire (Aim 2). The central hypothesis is that digital learning integrated into the predoctoral TMD curriculum will demonstrate high levels of feasibility, acceptability, usefulness, and applicability for clinical reasoning. The overarching goal of this program is to improve quality of care for underserved TMD patients by equipping future dental providers with the necessary skills to diagnose and manage TMD conditions effectively. Implementing VPBL offers a promising solution to bridge the gaps in dental education and the limited clinical exposure to TMD cases during predoctoral training. The findings of the proposed project will inform about the feasibility and utility of integrating this innovative technology into dental education. Following a successful randomized clinical trial, a future R01 grant will explore the full potential of this program through Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) strategies. By disseminating the VPBL platform to dental institutions across the nation and integrating it into curricula, the proposed project aims to fill important gaps in knowledge of future dental professionals and improve treatment to an underserved population. By doing so, it aims to advance dental education while promoting innovative approaches.