Re-exploring Dental Education During the COVID-19 Era: A Look Through the Challenges Faced, Solutions, and Their Impact on Traditional Methods

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2024-08, Vol.16 (8), p.e67106
• Main Authors: Mulla, Sayem A, Bhattacharjee, Minakshi, Methal, Sandhya A, Patil, Amit, Shrivastava, Sarita, Mane, Sarita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Conferences; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Dental research; Dental schools; Dentistry; Disease transmission; Education; Epidemics; Infections; Learning; Medical Education; Online tutorials; Pandemics; Public Health; Public speaking; Quarantine; Research methodology; Skills; Students; Teachers
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.67106

December 2019 brought to the world one of the worst pandemic diseases to exist - COVID-19. The pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns and quarantine, affecting the entire cycle of the world. The education system was one of the severely affected systems. Dental education, which is a practice-based learning system, faced complications due to the pandemic. E-learning methods were adapted in order to restrict the spread of the virus. E-learning has its own advantages and disadvantages. Although dental education is not possible by virtual means, there exist some methodologies that could be incorporated into routine teaching methods. The mixture of traditional learning methods along with newer methods adopted during COVID-19 can prove to improve the understanding procedure. The main aim of this article is to highlight these hybrid methods and encourage their incorporation to enhance the learning experience.