Assignments

Cross Cultural Awareness and Perceptions of Beauty in Dental Practice: A General Education Assignment.

This assignment is designed to increase the student’s cross-cultural awareness and perceptions of beauty in dental practice. The student will learn how to perform research and write a research paper in accordance with professional practice.

This assignment will be broken up into three separate but connected parts.

The first will be a formal write up consisting of 3-5 double spaces pages following the APA standards of documentation. Be sure to include all references and citations. (Due no later than Oct. 18, 2011)

The second portion will be an abstract written and posted on the resd1110 website. Each student will be required to post an abstract with a minimum of 100 words. (Due no later than Nov. 1, 2011)

The third portion will be posting comments to at least two fellow students abstract. Each comments must be a minimum of 50 words and most address the topic matter written in the abstract. (Due no later than Nov. 15, 2011)

The paper part of the assignment to include the following issues and questions:

Introduction:
As a dental professional, assess your perception of the need for cross-cultural sensitivity to dental aesthetics. Why have you chosen a particular culture for study?

Body of paper:
General background of the culture with an emphasis on beliefs or values related to perceptions of physical beauty; how do those values or beliefs relate to dental practices (or beliefs) in that culture?

Comparison:
How do those values compare to the American ideals in dentistry you are learning about in the laboratory portion of the class? Base your comparison on specific examples from your laboratory work (tooth alignment, for example).

Conclusions:
As a dental professional, what conclusions can you make with regard to the need for cross-cultural sensitivity to dental aesthetics? Can you think of ways this awareness might benefit your future professional life?