Current status of dental and orthodontic education in European and American countries

Abstract

This article was designed to elucidate the current status of dental and orthodontic education in the European and American countries by a questionnaire survey through internet. In Europe, the size of orthodontic society and the number of orthodontic department or dental school are small when compared to those in USA. In Europe and South America, it takes 5 to 6 years to complete undergraduate dental education for dentist. Meanwhile, in Canada and USA, dental school system has been developed, requiring 8-year education to become dentist. For orthodontic specialists, in general, it takes 3 years on average in European and American countries with an exception of 4-year training in Switzerland. Most societies in European and American countries have two important issues such as inappropriate orthodontic treatment and incorrect use of aligners by general practitioners. The most important strategy is to appeal the public that orthodontic treatment should be executed by orthodontic specialists. In conclusion, it is shown that the educational systems for dentist and orthodontist have well been developed in every country in the world, although the strength is somewhat different from country to country.