#15

The range is quite broad, with 16 schools requiring 100 to 300 hours...and 17 schools reported that 1 to 15 dentures were almost entirely fabricated by a technician. ..the ADA's Special Study Commission on the care of Fully and/or Partially Edentulous Patients reported:

"Repeatedly the Commission head that the emphasis on preventive dentistry in recent years has diminished the attention given to denture prosthetics in dental school curricula and in continuing education programs.

The personal observations of the Commission members tend to bear this out. It is the Commission's belief that contemporary undergraduate dental education programs too often produce dentists who are so ill-equipped in denture fabrication that they are not capable of judging the adequacy of the denture prosthesis that they order from a dental laboratory."

One year later it again reported:

"...members of the Commission have made a deliberate effort to discuss the current emphasis on the teaching of denture care, particularly the technical aspects of complete removable prosthetics, with dental educators and administrators, examiners and practitioners who should be in a position to speak informatively. In nearly every instance these persons spoke about a long-term de-emphasis on this important area of dental practice."