The company saw an upward trend in the number of dental professionals taking online training as well as a return to in-person training in 2022. To meet this increased demand, Dentsply Sirona has launched new online curricula through its Dentsply Sirona Academy.
Its clinical education programmes were said to reach almost half a million dental professionals who participated in courses globally last year — a 5% increase in pre-pandemic participation levels. The development of a portfolio of online and on-demand clinical education programmes was said to contribute to the increase in participation. Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic increase in online education participation. As these restrictions eased throughout 2022, more dental professionals joined in-person trainings, but online education remained popular.
Dentsply Sirona has 55 education centres in 33 countries for professionals to access various technique and digital workflow trainings. The company also plans to expand its flagship DS World clinical education events to new countries. It is also expanding its library of online clinical education available on Dentsply Sirona Academy. These evidence-based courses are said to be self-paced and interactive, developed and taught by experts, and are designed to expand skillsets and increase confidence.
Its new diagnosis and treatment planning curriculum and an endodontics curriculum which is focused on the workflow were launched. The curriculum is grouped into three learning tracks: foundational, procedure-based, and mastery to help clinicians advance to the next level in clinical, technical and practice excellence in their individual learning journey.
The courses are created by a group of instructional design experts to ensure participant engagement. Dr Mark Latta, DMD, MS, professor of general dentistry at Creighton University, US, said, “The rapid advances in technology across disciplines of dental health care have made it essential for clinicians to be committed to lifelong learning. Driven by a cadre of global experts, the Dentsply Sirona curriculum provides courses that provide each learner benefits for the care of their patients.”
Additionally, Dentsply Sirona is said to have launched the first sustainability educational curriculum for dentistry through the Dentsply Sirona Academy. It responds to a study conducted by the company last year which revealed that three quarters of dentists say that there is a knowledge gap on sustainability. The curriculum thus addresses this gap by building understanding of the industry’s environmental and social challenges and how to take action for more sustainable lab practices.
