Influenced by increasing political and economic integration within the European Union, European dental hygiene educators are seeking ways to bridge various nations’ approaches to teaching the subject. According to Ms. Su-yan Barrow, a Clinical Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene, NYUCD, the world’s most international academic dental center can learn from these efforts to narrow cultural differences in teaching methodologies. Professor Barrow joined dental hygiene educators from half a dozen European countries last March for an educational symposium in Amsterdam, where she presented seminars on advances in U.S. technology for detecting calculus and coronal tooth decay to participants from Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, and Slovakia.

Professor Barrow explained that relaxed travel restrictions within the European Union have contributed to growth in the number of dental hygiene exchange students and to debates about the need to standardize certain educational requirements. For example, some European schools require students simply to complete a treatment plan for their patients, while others require a more in-depth report that engages students in critical thinking about outcomes, such as changes in a patient’s oral health habits. She noted that NYUCD is considering mandating in-depth treatment summaries as well.

“While we have valuable educational perspectives to offer to our international friends, with so many international students coming to NYUCD, we also need to closely watch what happens in Europe and elsewhere around the world.”