Biomedical subjects

Alton G McWhorter

Publications and source records attributed to Alton G McWhorter.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Using OSCE-based evaluation: curricular impact over time.

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is becoming more widely used for performance assessment in dentistry. The department of pediatric dentistry at Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD) began incorporating the OSCE into its curriculum in 1995. This article describes the evolution of the department's use of the OSCE and its impact on teaching and the curriculum. The discussion focuses on logistics and station design, curricular content and order, student anxiety, writing and scoring exams, and curriculum assessment. BCD has found that using an OSCE-based testing format is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but provides unprecedented feedback about students' understanding and pinpoints areas of confusion. The demands of an OSCE-based testing format reveal that students can master, to the level of competency, only a finite amount of information in a given time period. The timed, interactive aspects of the OSCE create high levels of student anxiety that must be addressed. Writing and scoring OSCE items are different from traditional test items. The OSCE is a valuable mechanism to assess the students' progress toward competency. This review of the process of incorporating OSCEs into a curriculum is the foundation for future assessment of the OSCE and its use for curricular improvement.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Concentration of formocresol used by pediatric dentists in primary tooth pulpotomy.

Diluted formocresol is the most widely recommended primary tooth pulpotomy medicament, but it is not commercially available. This investigation surveyed practicing pediatric dentists about the concentration of formocresol that they use to perform pulpotomies and, if they use diluted formocresol, where they obtain it. Eight-hundred-and-six surveys were sent to a randomly selected sample of practicing pediatric dentists, and 422 were returned for a 52% response rate. Eighty-four percent of the respondents use formocresol for their primary tooth pulpotomies. Of those, 69% use full strength, 27% use diluted and 4% don't know. Sources of diluted formocresol for those who use the diluted form include: 34% who buy it that way, 58% who dilute it themselves and 8% who have the pharmacy dilute it. The majority of pediatric dentists who use formocresol for primary tooth pulpotomies use a full strength formulation.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of aggressive pulp therapy in a population of vitamin D-resistant rickets patients: a follow-up of 4 cases.

This investigation collected clinical and radiographic data from a retrospective chart review of 4 patients receiving prophylactic formocresol pulpotomies and stainless steel crowns following a dental abscess associated with a medical diagnosis of vitamin-D resistant rickets (VDRR) at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Tex. Clinical and radiographic data were available for 29 primary teeth in 4 children, with follow-up times ranging from 2 years, 1 month to 5 years, 6 months. Based on available recalls of 29 teeth treated following the prophylactic formocresol pulpotomy, 22 failed clinically. The earliest failure occurred at 3 months; the longest time to failure was 3 years, 9 months. No trends were discernable between tooth type and failure rate, although the shorter the time between eruption of the tooth and pulpotomy treatment, the greater the chance of success. Presently, there is not enough evidence to suggest that prophylactic pulpotomy therapy in VDRR patients is beneficial in preserving their primary dentition.

Abscess↗