Community-based dental education and dentists' attitudes and behavior concerning patients from underserved populations.

The objectives of this study were to explore how dentists with well-structured vs. not well-structured community-based dental education (CBDE) experiences differ in perceptions of their CBDE and its impact on their professional lives and in their professional attitudes and behavior related to treating patients from underserved populations. The relationships between CBDE evaluations and impact on the dentists' professional lives and professional attitudes and behavior were explored as well. Data were collected from 254 dentists who participated in CBDE before graduating from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry between 1970 and 2011. The results showed that the alumni with well-structured experiences rated the quality of their CBDE more positively and its impact on their professional lives as stronger than those with less well-structured experiences. They also had more positive attitudes concerning treating underserved patients and were more likely to treat underserved patients than their peers with less well-structured experiences. These dentists' perceptions of the quality of CBDE and impact on their professional lives correlated significantly with their attitudes and behavior concerning treating underserved patients. Their perceptions of the quality of their CBDE experiences and perceptions of benefits from these experiences were significantly related to their professional attitudes and behavior related to providing care for patients from underserved populations.