Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39473077›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe2025

Nutrition Education and Practice in University Dental and Oral Health Programmes and Curricula: A Scoping Review.

Minako Kataoka, Lee Ann Adam, Lauren Elizabeth Ball, Jennifer Crowley, Rachael Mira McLean

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Minako KataokaDepartment of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Lee Ann AdamDepartment of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-2957-3887
Lauren Elizabeth BallCentre for Community Health and Wellbeing, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Jennifer CrowleyFaculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Rachael Mira McLeanDepartment of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-0005-328X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionDentists and oral health practitioners have a potential role in supporting the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases. However, the extent to which university education prepares practitioners to provide nutrition care is unclear. This scoping review identifies and synthesises the evidence related to university-level nutrition education provided to dental and oral health students globally.

methodsA scoping review identified relevant literature through search terms "dentistry," "oral health," or "oral hygiene"; "dental students" or "dental education"; "nutrition education" or "nutrition science." Articles were included that examined nutrition education in undergraduate oral health training; or nutrition knowledge, attitudes, confidence, or skills or dietary habits; experts' opinion papers; and position statements. No limitations on the publication years or languages of the articles were applied.

resultsA total of 136 articles were included. Half were surveys of students (n = 49) or academic staff (n = 21). The remainder comprised reports of curriculum initiatives (n = 26), opinion papers or narrative reviews (n = 24), position statements (n = 6), curriculum development (n = 6) and curriculum guidelines (n = 9). While dental and oral health students and curriculum experts overwhelmingly recognised the importance of nutrition, most studies that assessed nutrition knowledge of students revealed limited knowledge. Students were not confident in their skills to provide nutrition care. Lack of nutrition experts on teaching teams and unclear expectations about developing nutrition competencies were identified as barriers to greater nutrition education.

conclusionNutrition education in university dental and oral health degrees is highly variable. The potential for oral health professionals of the future to promote oral health through nutrition is unrealised.

Indexed as

CurriculumEducation, DentalNutritional SciencesOral HealthHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansStudents, DentalUniversitiesattitudescompetencyknowledgenutrition carenutrition educationoral health curricula

Identifiers

PMID39473077
PMCPMC11730457

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.