Undergraduate and graduate education in prosthodontics in continental Europe.

Many factors, such as reduction in caries and periodontitis prevalence, decrease in the number of edentulous patients, and more frequent demand for implants, will have an important influence on prosthodontic treatment in the future. To provide more data on the reaction of prosthodontic departments to these changes and the implication in the teaching and training of dental students, a survey with 25 questions was sent to 40 universities in five European countries. The questions referred to teaching and training time in the three branches of prosthodontics; integration of periodontics, occlusion, and orthodontics; implant dentistry; and graduate training and postgraduate programs. The survey revealed that teaching and training in prosthodontics is still very conservative, not biologically oriented, and neglecting the future impact of changes in prevalence of caries and periodontal disease.