School Services

The Only Constant in Life is Change

April 19, 2021

Rick Callan, DMD, EdS, EdD

 

Owner and Chairman of the Board

 

 

 

"The only constant in life is change"

- Heraclitus

 

To embellish on the quote above, change is not only constant, it is also inevitable. However true the statement regarding change might be, equally constant is the almost universal aversion to change. Most people become quite comfortable with the status quo and therefore tend to resist change for as long as possible. However, change is not necessarily a bad thing. Change can be the right thing when viewed through the proper lens.

 

Such is the case regarding the use of live patients in dental licensure examinations. Good argument can certainly be made to defend the inclusion of live patients in the examination process, as there can be no comparable substitute for the real thing when evaluating clinical performance. The onset of the pandemic made the use of live patients next to impossible for licensure examinations. Yet long before the pretense of a pandemic, moves were underway to eliminate that requirement from the licensure process. Ethical concerns were paramount in that discussion, as well as issues of fairness and objectivity. For lack of any other viable option, many states reluctantly accepted a solely manikin based examination, while others opted to “wait it out”, hoping for a short-lived hiatus from the status quo.

 

Promethean Dental Systems has developed a 5 Stage Dental Education System to teach, elevate, assess and prove the skills of dental professionals at all stages of their professional life cycle. Stage 3 of this system addresses the dental licensure examination. Using the Simodont Dental Trainer, Promethean Dental Systems has created what we believe to be an acceptable alternative to the live-patient examination. The virtual-haptic technology provides a life-like look and feel experience combined with the dental fidelity not achievable with a manikin. In addition to addressing the Ethical concerns of the use of live patients, this experience is consistent and fair, provides completely objective assessment of each participant’s performance, and can be offered as a price considerably less than the net cost of the options currently available.

 

Dental education, as well as the dental profession, are equally subject to the vagaries of the inevitability of change. We should welcome this change as an opportunity to improve all that we do and adjust our course accordingly.

Professional Installation

Training, Support, and Analytics

Idea Generation and Product Innovation

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Current teaching methods focus on skill building.  PDS advocates a multimodal learning approach, which can be used for skill building, but extends into repetition boosting and end to end workflow experience. Currently, most schools use didactic courses coupled with typodonts and manikins to teach clinical skills. Multimodal learning augments traditional learning modes by adding proprioception through the integration of three-dimensional haptic technology. By using didactic courses, manikins, virtual-haptic simulation, digital dentistry and dental software, the student becomes more engaged, and learning is strengthened.

We have found that most schools are unaware of the need for additional learning modalities. The incorporation of innovative technology and services can help schools address challenges such as remediation, and more recently, Covid. Remediation of students is expensive and is limited by clinic space and faculty monitoring. Covid has severely reduced the amount of patient appointments and opportunities for skill repetition. Technology, like the Simodont Dental Trainer, will allow students access to self-guided remediation and receive objective assessments. A student logs-in, completes the skill exercise module and submits the results. Skill building and repetition boosting will improve the student outcomes and decrease failure rates.

PDS works with dental schools and dental hygiene programs to evolve their educational curriculum. Integration of the multimodal learning model requires more than the purchase of equipment. Our Value-added services include:

  • Cloud Support & Analytic Services-Secure hosting with value added services for making suggestions (Idea Box), to conveniently schedule expert advice (Ask the Doctor) and an analytics dashboard to provide secure, comprehensive data for student progress assessments.
  • Collaboration Programs -Assists schools with using their technological assets to raise revenue.
  • Pre-Admissions Boot Camp-Courses and subscriptions that help students gain experience and gain a competitive advantage for admission to dental or dental hygiene school.

International Dentist Program-Supports Internationally trained dentists who wish to be admitted to dental schools, Advance Standing Programs, or Advanced Education in General Dentistry Programs

You will feel confident in knowing that our online Knowledge Base is available 24/7. This customer help center provides customers the ability to retrieve important information around the clock. Here, you will find a library of frequently asked questions along with the answer and associated instructions. If you don’t see your concern addressed in the library, simply complete and submit your technical support ticket. One of our team members will quickly follow up to address your issue.

There are 2 options for acquiring the Simodont Dental Trainer.

  • Purchase: Quotes for the purchase will be provided by Kilgore International.
  • Lease: Lease agreements will be provided by Promethean Financial Services, a subsidiary of Promethean Dental Services.

Promethean Dental Systems collaborates with Kilgore International and Nissin Dental to perform alignment with your internal IT department, align on the delivery date, and provide installation, configuration, and training services.  If you need assistance from Promethean Dental Systems, please go to our Contact Us webpage and provide your contact information and questions.