Stakeholder perceptions of chairside teaching and learning in one UK dental school.

As a hands-on clinical educational programme, undergraduate dentistry is an anomaly in higher education. This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of chairside teaching of dental team stakeholders, including dental nurses, dental students and dental tutors at a single UK dental school. From this sample the penetration of current learning and teaching innovations within higher education into the specialist field of clinical dentistry could be evaluated. This article is the first of a series of four which investigates the perceptions of stakeholders of chairside teaching at a single dental school. The second evaluates chairside teaching on a UK wide scale. The third provides educational tools to encourage collaboration and sharing good chairside teaching practice. A further accompanying article reviews some of the educational methodology and innovations in teaching and learning that may be applied to dentistry.