Attitude of professors and undergraduate dental students on pediatric dentistry curriculum at Shiraz dental school

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the need for revision of the undergraduate pediatric dentistry curriculum of Shiraz dental school according to the opinions of the professor and students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in academic year of 2008-2009. 77 questionnaires distributed between 8 pediatric professors and 69 students. Questionnaire in theoretical pediatric and practical pediatric dentistry was designed according to the likert criteria. The data was analyzed by SPSS-14 and descriptive statistics and Mann Whitney test was used for statistical analysis P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In comparison with the three theoretical courses, course 2 was the most important and course 3 had the least importance. Only in course 2, the statistical difference was significant (P=0.017). It was shown that, some topics were common with course topics in other departments. Educational titles for courses 1 and 2 overlapped with the operative dentistry and orthodontics and course 3 is mostly overlapped with oral medicine subjects. Pulp and fissure sealant therapy were the most important topics in practical pedantic dentistry. Conclusion: There is a need to revise and modify the theoretical and practical pediatric dentistry educational program