Abstract

Background & Objective: Presently there are internationally prevailing competency statements for Public Health Dentistry and it would be important to know how the activities of public health dentistry departments in India are matching with these competencies. Hence, the present study was conducted with an aim to assess the activities carried out in the Departments of Public Health Dentistry of different dental colleges across India, as per the competency document for public health dentistry stated in a similar survey by Mascarenhas AK and Altman D.2 Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among the post-graduate students of department of Public health Dentistry studying in India. Evaluation of competency statement was assessed by the questionnaire administered through Google form via E-mail & whatsapp. The questionnaire was developed from the article by Mascarenhas AK2 with necessary changes to suit the requirements of the study. Results: 47 students belonging to 41 dental colleges across India responded to the survey. The most followed competency among the students was Communicating on oral and public health issues, conducting research, planning & implementing oral health program with 79%, 77% & 62% respectively. The least followed competency was advocating for oral health policy with 40%. The major domain of oral health programs implemented by the department were health education programs followed by preventive & treatment programs with 62%, 23%, & 9% respectively. Conclusion: The competencies which require additional attention are, advocating for oral health policy, ethical decision making in practice of Dental Public Health, evaluating health care delivery system and integrating social determinants of health into oral health.

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