ArticleBMC medical education2025
Preferred communication techniques by student-providers and patients during caries management in a teaching practice: a quality improvement study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Integrated Dentist-Nurse Collaborative Care Model for Caries Management in China.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClear and concise communication between providers and patients is the cornerstone of building trust and delivering effective medical and oral healthcare. The aim of this quality improvement study was to examine patient-provider communication during caries management sessions in an academic dental teaching practice.
methodsQuestionnaires were administered to student-providers (3rd and 4th years) and patients (age 18+) in the Harvard Dental Center Teaching Practice from July through December 2022. The student-provider questionnaire assessed challenges, adherence, and communication approaches used during caries management. The patient questionnaire focused on patients' communication preferences, understanding of caries, oral health literacy, and attitudes towards caries management. Descriptive analyses were calculated for both student-provider and patient data, and open-ended student-provider responses were analyzed using a content analysis and organized into themes.
resultsQuestionnaires were completed by 34 student-providers (50% response rate) and a convenience sample of 110 patients. Among student-providers who reported conducting a caries management session, all reported using simple language and 65.6% focused on discussing limited concepts at a time. Patients preferred simple language (54.8%), motivational interviewing (47.1%), and visual aids, such as models and x-rays (40.4%), to better understand concepts. A subset of student-providers (39.3%) reported challenges in effectively communicating and motivating patients to improve oral hygiene habits. Approximately half of the patients (55.2%) felt confident completing dental forms independently. Regarding their understanding of caries, 54.7% of patients responded that tooth decay will always necessitate fillings and 43.6% of patients responded that they will know when they have tooth decay.
conclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of interpersonal communication skill training in dental education to facilitate productive provider-patient communication, particularly in the context of caries risk assessment and management.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.