Challenges and Alternatives in Dental Education During the COVID-19 pandemic. Integrative Literature Review: Dental education during the COVID-19

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic has become a major health challenge and a public
health emergency, so it is important to strengthen preventive measures to control its spread. The
transmissibility and routes that characterize this virus make it very high risk during dental
procedures. For this reason, different organizations and institutions of dental education worldwide
have been forced to implement new teaching modalities for dental students to provide a high
academic and safe education in clinical practice. Purpose: To examine and analyze different
existing publications in relation to dental education, as well as its challenges and alternatives
around the COVID-19 disease. Methods: An integrative review of literature on dental education
in times of pandemic was carried out. Results: In all continents, countries agree that three key
aspects in terms of education must be reinforced are new educational tools, telemedicine, and
biosecurity. Conclusion: It is decisive and crucial that dental students and professionals acquire
knowledge in matters of health regulations, biosafety, and general aspects of epidemiology,
through new forms of teaching, in order to be better prepared to provide the best possible dental
care during and after this pandemic