Dental Procedure Education System

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The Dental Procedure Education System (DPES) is a web-based collection of dental procedures created by the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto with help from educational media and technology experts. It reflects the teaching methods and clinical practices used by the faculty and was designed mainly to educate dental students, while also serving the public due to the health care implications of dental procedures.

DPES has two parts: a public version and DPES Pro for students. The public version, also called DPES, is open to patients and the general public. It explains procedures in simple language and uses a mix of 3D animations, video, and still images to show each step, with a written article accompanying the visuals. The public pages may include post-operative care and follow-up information, helping patients understand what to expect and potentially reducing pre-operative anxiety and speeding up informed consent. Depending on the procedure, patients can review post-operative recommendations online.

DPES Pro is intended for the faculty’s undergraduate dental students (DDS) and is not open to the public. Like the public version, it uses high-quality visuals, but the language is technical and geared toward dental practitioners. The DPES Pro videos are longer and divided into chapters for easy access, and the accompanying written article provides in-depth explanations, including background, recent research, clinical implications, differing views, and any controversial issues. The article also includes references so students can consult current literature.

DPES follows a clear production cycle. A faculty member drafts the procedure article for DPES Pro, usually the same person who teaches the procedure. The draft is posted internally and reviewed by two other faculty members. After reviews, the author creates two scripts—one for DPES Pro and one for the public DPES. The media team then produces the visual demonstrations from these scripts, and the author reviews the final visuals. The DPES Pro visuals sit at the top of the DPES Pro article, while the DPES public visuals are created from the same material but are shorter and written in plain language. The DPES script may serve as the article for the public version or be expanded. Once both versions are approved, they are published for their respective audiences.