The student will be able to:

1. Define dental public health and describe key features of ideal public health programs, including objectives, target populations, and outcome measures.
2. Apply fundamental epidemiological concepts (e.g., incidence, prevalence, risk factors) to analyze case studies or data in dental public health, demonstrating how these principles inform prevention and control of oral diseases.
3. Assess the appropriateness of different designs for various public health studies.
4. Identify the essential components of scientific research design, including research questions, hypotheses, methods, and data collection.
5. Interpret basic statistical measures (e.g., mean, median, mode, standard deviation) as they apply to dental public health data, demonstrating an understanding of their role in evidence-based practice.
6. Identify and discuss health disparities affecting different populations within the community, using evidence from current research to illustrate the impact on oral health outcomes.
7. Discuss the role of ethical principles and legal concepts in public health initiatives and research.

1. Dental public health
   1. Concepts of health and dental public health
      1. Core principles of public health
         1. Assessment
         2. Policy development
         3. Assurance
      2. Essential services of public health
   2. Principles of an ideal public health program
   3. Dental health care delivery in the community setting
2. Epidemiology
   1. Concepts of epidemiology
      1. Epidemiologic triangle
         1. Agent factors
         2. Environmental factors
         3. Host factors
      2. Role of the epidemiologist
      3. Distribution of disease
      4. Measures of disease occurrence
         1. Incidence
         2. Prevalence
         3. Morbidity
         4. Mortality
   2. The influence of epidemiologic factors on the health of a community
      1. Barriers to health
         1. Transportation
         2. Socioeconomic
         3. Educational
         4. Cultural
      2. Social determinants of health
         1. Environmental
         2. Educational level
         3. Health/genetics
         4. Socioeconomic
         5. Cultural
      3. Conceptual models of the determinants of health
         1. Mandala of health
         2. Systematic approach to health improvement
   3. Clinical measures used in oral health surveillance
      1. Screening methods
         1. Primary
         2. Secondary
         3. Tertiary
3. Scientific research design
   1. Define components of research methodology
      1. Research design
         1. Sampling populations
            1. Convenience
            2. Judgement
            3. Systematic
            4. Random
            5. Stratified
         2. Observational studies
            1. Prospective (longitudinal) study design
            2. Retrospective (case control) study design
            3. Cross sectional study design
         3. Experimental studies
            1. Single blind design
            2. Double blind design
            3. Randomized control study
            4. Parallel design
            5. Crossover design
4. Describe components of well-designed research
   1. Scientific method
   2. Hypothesis testing
      1. Alternate hypothesis
      2. Null hypothesis
      3. Type I errors
      4. Type II errors
   3. Controlling bias
      1. Sample size
      2. Randomization of sample
      3. Double vs. single blind studies
   4. Data collection utilizing dental indices
      1. Characteristics of an ideal index
      2. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability
      3. Types of indices used in dental public health
         1. DMFT, dft
         2. Basic screening survey
         3. Community periodontal index
         4. Root caries index
         5. Dean's fluorosis index
5. Statistics
   1. Concepts of statistics and common statistical terminology
      1. Measures of central tendency
         1. Mean
         2. Mode
         3. Median
      2. Measures of dispersion
         1. Standard deviation
         2. Range
      3. Correlation coefficients
      4. Probability
      5. t-test
      6. Chi-square
   2. The use of statistics in dental public health
      1. Healthy people program
      2. National Health and Nutritional Exam Survey (NHANES)
6. Health disparities
   1. Oral health disparities and barriers to health care
      1. Lack of providers
      2. Financial
      3. Transportation
      4. Cultural influences
      5. Educational status
   2. Oral health problems and the extent to which they affect the population
      1. Dental caries
      2. Periodontal disease
      3. Oropharyngeal cancer
   3. Trends in oral health and disease
   4. Oral health surveillance systems
      1. Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD)
      2. National Oral Health Surveillance System (NOHSS)
7. Ethical principles and legal concepts in public health research
   1. Professional ethics and conduct in research
   2. Ethical research practices
   3. Institutional Review Board approval for research studies

Students will fulfill field work requirements by engaging in various community outreach projects, including educating a diverse range of socioeconomic populations through oral presentations on oral health and related topics (disproportionately impacted groups, including but not limited to seniors, children, and developmentally delayed teens). Students will also participate in school-based dental screenings, providing oral health education to preschool and elementary aged children, and assist licensed dental professionals with screening.

Community dental health project: literature review and formulation of a dental health program
Midterm exam
Final exam

Lecture
Discussion
Field work

Beatty, Christine. Community Oral Health Practice for the Dental Hygienist, 5th ed.. 2022.

1. Reading assignment: scientific journal article on health disparities for discussion in class.
2. Writing assignments: write an introduction to literature review for community dental health project.
3. Community dental health project: conduct a literature review of a dental health topic.