Skip to content
Predoctoral Course Catalog

DENTFN 521

Dental Curriculum Threads

Introduction to Dental Public Health

Course Director: Donald Chi
Credits: 2
Quarters/Yr of Program: Winter / 1

Course Overview

This course guides students through the process of developing critical thinking skills and addressing public health problems in dentistry. Students will critically evaluate a real-world dental public health case involving behavioral, social, ethical, and cultural elements; work collaboratively with group members to identify resources and gather information to develop a comprehensive understanding of the problem; develop hypotheses regarding the nature and complexity of the problem; prioritize goals and objectives relevant to the problem; and develop a feasible, evidence-based solution. The course will culminate in a final in-class group presentation.

Learning Objectives

The student who successfully completes this course will be able to:

  1. Assess dental public health principles and problems in the United States and Washington State, including how oral health problems affect vulnerable subgroups and communities.
  2. Analyze public health problems with dental, medical, behavioral, social, ethical, cultural, and community aspects.
  3. Formulate a plan for seeking information on various aspects of a public health problem, consistent with good clinical practice and being a continual learner.
  4. Articulate alternative points of view about a public health problem involving dentistry.
  5. Evaluate different models of oral health care financing, management, and delivery.
  6. Apply the principles of behavioral and social science that pertain to population-centered oral health care to the promotion, improvement, and maintenance of population oral health.
  7. Demonstrate basic information search skills to help analyze public health problems.
  8. Coherently and professionally articulate creative and feasible solutions to a dental public health problem.
  9. Recognize the role of lifelong learning and self-assessment in maintaining clinical and professional skills.

UWSOD Competencies: C-01, C-10, C-02, CE-03, C-03, CE-06, C-04, C-08, C-15, C-11

Date last updated: 2026-01-07