Global Survey of Nutrition Education in Dental Schools: Current Practices and Opportunities.

BACKGROUND

Nutrition is central to oral health, yet curriculum content and teaching approaches vary widely across dental schools globally.

AIM: To characterise current nutrition education practices in dental schools worldwide, identify regional variations, explore barriers and identify opportunities for curriculum enhancement.

METHODS

Online survey of dental schools (March-April 2025) examining nutrition curriculum structure, content coverage, research activity, teaching methods, resources, faculty and barriers. Descriptive statistics and inferential tests (chi-square, Fisher's exact, Kruskal-Wallis with Bonferroni correction) were used for regional comparisons.

RESULTS

Fifty-five schools participated (Europe n = 25, North America n = 13, Other Regions n = 17). While 98% include diet-caries relationships in curricula, only 79% rate content as adequate. Larger adequacy gaps exist for basic diet and nutrition principles (91% coverage, 51% adequate), counselling techniques (79% coverage, 36% adequate) and special populations (74% coverage, 17% adequate). Substantial variation exists in curriculum hours (range: 2-150; mean: 26; median: 15). Teaching remains predominantly lecture-based (95%), with limited clinical application (36%). Collaboration interest was consistently high across regions (88%-100%), while professional involvement of dietitians/nutritionists was low (32%-38%). Primary barriers include limited curriculum time (75%), low curricular priority (40%) and lack of expertise (33%).

CONCLUSIONS

This global survey reveals substantial gaps between nutrition education coverage in oral health and self-reported adequacy. High collaboration interest (91%) among dental educators provides an opportunity to address common barriers through coordinated curriculum development and shared educational resources.