Dental students' knowledge of oral health for persons with special needs: a pilot study.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of dental students with respect to oral health care of the person with special health care needs (SHCN) and evaluate effectiveness of an education program on improving their knowledge.An evaluation consisting of a questionnaire was answered before and immediately after a 30-minute educational presentation in the form of a DVD that includes a PowerPoint and a video of oral health care for individuals with SHCN. The questionnaire was based on the materials and information presented in the DVD and included 26 questions (true/false/I do not know).The mean (± SD) score on the pretest was 10.85 (± 5.20), which increased to 16.85 (± 5.47) on the posttest. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Forty percent of the students surveyed reported that they were very satisfied with the educational part of the presentation, while 50% were somewhat satisfied. Thirty percent of students expressed that the educational intervention used is very effective.Viewing the educational intervention was effective in informing the sophomore students and providing them with instructive basic information on person with SHCN. Dental colleges should increase students' knowledge, training, and exposure to individuals with SHCN.
Project description:The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between dental knowledge, the source of dental knowledge and oral health behavior in a group of students at a university in Japan. A total of 2,220 university students (1,276 males, 944 females) volunteered to undergo an oral examination and answer a questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed dental knowledge, the source of dental knowledge and oral health behavior (e.g., daily frequency of tooth brushing, use of dental floss and regular dental checkups). The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for oral health behavior based on dental knowledge and source of dental knowledge were calculated using logistic regression models. Of the participants, 1,266 (57.0%) students obtained dental knowledge from dental clinics, followed by school (39.2%) and television (29.1%). Logistic regression analyses indicated that use of dental floss was significantly associated with source of dental knowledge from dental clinics (P = 0.006). Receiving regular dental checkups was significantly associated with source of dental knowledge; the positive source was dental clinic (P < 0.001) and the negative sources were school (P = 0.004) and television (P = 0.018). Dental clinic was the most common source of dental knowledge and associated with better oral health behavior among the Japanese university students in this study.
Project description:BackgroundOral health is essential for overall well-being and can significantly improve quality of life. However, people with special health care needs (SHCN) often face challenges in accessing dental services. This study aimed to systematically review all available evidence on the oral and dental service utilization determinants among these individuals. Based on the findings, we also explore strategies to increase their access to dental care.MethodThis study is a systematic review of reviews based on the PRISMA 2020. Six databases were systematically searched including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library. Related keywords were applied up to 30 October 2023. This study includes all systematic, scoping, and rapid reviews written in English that examine the factors affecting dental service use among SHCNs. Microsoft Power BI was used for descriptive quantitative analysis, and MAXQDA version 10 was applied for qualitative thematic analysis.ResultsThe number of 2238 articles were retrieved based on the search strategy. After excluding duplications and appraising the eligibility, 7 articles were included. An examination of these 7 articles shows that they were all carried out from 2016 to 2022. Of these, 42% were systematic reviews, 42% used a scoping method, and one study (14%) was a rapid review. According to the thematic analysis, there were five main themes concerning determinants of oral and dental utilization of SHCN: "Financial considerations," "Patient-Provider Relationship," "Accessibility and Availability of Services," "Patient Factors," and "Quality of Care." Additionally, regarding strategies for improving utilization, three main themes emerged: "Education and Training," "Service Improvement," and "Policy Solutions.ConclusionThis study delves into the intricate challenges SHCNs face in accessing dental services, highlighting the imperative for comprehensive interventions addressing supply and demand. Supply-oriented measures encompass dentist education, implementing financial policies for affordable services, and integrating dental care into primary healthcare systems. On the demand side, strategies revolve around empowering patients and caregivers and enhancing cultural inclusivity. Despite sustained efforts, current utilization rates fall short of optimal levels. Thus, effective strategic planning by policymakers and healthcare leaders is paramount to bolster dental service utilization among SHCNs, thereby enhancing their overall well-being.
Project description:This study aimed to evaluate a special needs dental workshop for dentists, allied dental health professionals and students in Trinidad and Tobago. This feedback study conducted in 2019-2020, included two surveys, one at the time of the workshop and a second survey one year after it. The first survey utilized an anonymous self-administered questionnaire enquiring about the reason for attendance, profession/education, demographics, and difficulties faced in treating patients with special needs. The follow-up study used an online survey tool assessing the workshop and queried comments/suggestions. The Chi-square test served for statistical analysis. Of the 176 attendees 131 participated (response: 74.4%). The majority (81.5%) were females. Most attendees were dental students (50.3%) or dentists (38.9%). Knowledge acquisition (73.1%) and professional development (14.2%) were the main motives for attendance while communication (31.8%) and non-compliance (34.5%) were the main problems faced in treating patients with special needs. The follow-up evaluation (post-workshop) (response: 72.5%) showed that most participants (90.5%) assessed the workshop as positive; 80% reported an increase in their knowledge and 64.2% perceived a need for further education. These findings suggest a considerable demand for special needs dental services and continuing education and show that workshops can actively affect patient care.
Project description:The strategic plan for dentistry and oral health in Estonia of 2030 focuses on oral health promotion and disease prevention through undergraduate dental curricula and fostering public health-oriented research among students. The present study was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study to evaluate oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours (KAB) of dental students in Estonia. The study was carried out in the spring semester of 2020, and it used a modified version of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI). A total of 129 students responded to the survey, constituting a response rate of 93.5% due to the total population sampling (census) technique used in this study and the small target population size. Out of the 124 students included in the final analysis, 79% were females, 62.1% were clinical students, 11.3% reported smoking tobacco at least once a week, and 86.3% reported problematic internet use. The present study found that mean HU-DBI score of Estonian dental students was 8.09 ± 1.22 which is so far the highest recorded HU-DBI score in Europe. There was no significant difference between female vs. male or preclinical vs. clinical students in terms of HU-DBI score. While clinical students reported less faulty oral hygiene practices, such as hard toothbrush use and aggressive toothbrushing, preclinical students reported a slightly higher mean HU-DBI score. Smoking behaviour was more common among male and clinical students, and it was also associated with alcohol drinking and worry about teeth colour and halitosis.
Project description:Dentists play a key role in the primary prevention of oral diseases and related systemic complications; therefore, their views on behavioural interventions need to be aligned with the current agendas for oral health. Likewise, dental students' oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours (KAB) are of practical importance, as they are the future opinion leaders for oral health in their respective communities. A cross-sectional survey-based study was designed to evaluate the oral health KAB of dental students in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The study utilized translated versions of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI), and it aimed to recruit students from all Czech and Slovak dental schools. A total of 487 students were included in this study, out of which 372 (76.4%) were females, 271 (55.6%) were enrolled in preclinical years, 68 (14%) reported smoking tobacco at least once a week, and 430 (88.3%) reported problematic internet use. The mean HU-DBI score of Czech and Slovak dental students (8.18 ± 1.80) was comparable with the previously reported scores of dental students in Nordic and Western European countries. Czech students (9.34 ± 1.29) had a significantly higher score than their Slovak counterparts (7.56 ± 1.73). In both countries, preclinical students (8.04 vs. 8.35), the students who reported tobacco smoking (7.63 vs. 8.27), and those who reported problematic internet use (8.11 vs. 8.70) had significantly lower HU-DBI scores than their counterparts, respectively. In the Czech Republic, the significant increases in HU-DBI scores occurred after the first academic year when the students received preventive dentistry courses; therefore, one can put forward that early implementation of preventive elements in undergraduate dental curricula may yield better and more sustainable oral health gains for the students. Future research on Czech and Slovak dental curricula need to re-evaluate the oral hygiene and anti-smoking components and their impact on students' views and attitudes.
Project description:Dental students are the future leaders of oral health in their respective communities; therefore, their oral health-related attitudes and behaviours are of practical value for primary disease prevention. The present study aimed to evaluate oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of dental students in Arab countries and explore the potential sociodemographic predictors of their oral health outcomes. A multi-centre, cross-sectional study was conducted during the academic year 2019/2020 in three Arab countries: Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia. The study used a validated Arabic version of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI) composed of original twenty items that assess the level of oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours, and four additional dichotomous items related to tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, problematic internet use, and regular dental check-up The HU-DBI score ranges between 0 and 12. A total of 1430 students took part in this study, out of which 60.8% were females, 57.8% were enrolled in clinical years, 24.5% were tobacco smokers, 7.2% were alcohol drinkers, and 87% reported internet addiction. The mean HU-DBI score was 6.31 ± 1.84, with Lebanon having the highest score (6.67 ± 1.83), followed by Syria (6.38 ± 1.83) and Tunisia (6.05 ± 1.83). Clinical students (6.78 ± 1.70) had higher HU-DBI scores than their preclinical peers (5.97 ± 1.86). The year-over-year analysis revealed that dental public health and preventive dentistry courses had significantly and positively impacted the undergraduate students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. The gender-based differences were not statistically significant, with a modest trend favouring males, especially oral health behaviours. Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and problematic internet use were associated with lower HU-DBI scores. In the Arab world, the economic rank of the country where the dental students live/study was weakly correlated with the students' mean HU-DBI score.
Project description:BackgroundChildren and adolescents with special health care needs (SHCN) have higher unmet dental needs, but the potential mechanisms by which parental factors can influence dental care use have not been determined. Parenting a child with SHCN can present special demands that affect parents' well-being and, in turn, their caregiving. Hence, the study's overall aim was to apply the stress process model to examine the role of parental psychosocial factors in the association between child SHCN and dental care. Specifically, the study tested hypotheses regarding how (a) children's SHCN status is associated with child dental care (unmet dental needs and lack of preventive dental visits), both directly and indirectly via parental psychosocial factors (parenting stress, instrumental, and emotional social support) and (b) parental social support buffers the association between parenting stress and child dental care.MethodsA secondary data analysis of the 2011-2012 US National Survey of Children's Health was performed for 6- to 11-year-old children (n = 27,874) and 12- to 17-year-old adolescents (n = 31,328). Our age-stratified models estimated associations between child SHCN status and parental psychosocial factors with two child dental care outcomes: parent-reported unmet child dental needs and lack of preventive dental care.ResultsParents of children with (vs without) SHCN reported higher unmet child dental needs, higher parenting stress, and lower social support (instrumental and emotional). Instrumental, but not emotional, parental support was associated with lower odds of their child unmet dental needs in both age groups. The association between parenting stress and child dental care outcomes was modified by parental social support.ConclusionDifferences existed in child unmet dental needs based on SHCN status, even after adjusting for parental psychosocial factors. SHCN status was indirectly associated with unmet dental needs via parental instrumental support among adolescents, and parental instrumental support buffered the negative association between parenting stress and both child dental care outcomes. Hence, parental social support was an important determinant of child dental care and partially explained the dental care disparities in adolescents with SHCN.
Project description:BackgroundThe "Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP)" approach is crucial in health system. Appreciating the current KAP status will reveal the extent of the efficiency of applied health strategies, and subsequently help to determine the appropriate health policy to be employed for improving the health indicators of a given disease/condition, including Oral Cancer (OC). This large-scale cross-sectional study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice on OC among senior dental students in Yemen.MethodsA pre-validated online questionnaire was used for data collection. It consisted of a series of close-ended questions on knowledge, attitudes and practices related to OC. Yemeni dental students in clinical levels (4th and 5th years) from nine dental schools based in four major cities were invited to complete the survey. The SPSS Version 28.0 was used for data analysis. Differences by different grouping factors were assessed by Chi-squared and Mann Whitney-U tests, as appropriate.ResultsA total of 927 students completed the questionnaire: a response rate of 43%. While the majority identified smoking (93.8%), and smokeless tobacco (92.1%) as potential risk factors of OC, only 76.2% recognized sun exposure as a risk factor for lip cancer and only 50% were aware of old age as a risk factor of OC. Regarding clinical signs of OC, 84.1% reported that OC can present as non-healing ulcer, but only two thirds of the participants recognized that OC can present as a white and/or red lesion. With respect to practices, although 92.1% reported asking their patients regarding oral habits, only 78% reported they regularly carry out a soft tissue examination. Only 54.5% of the participants considered themselves to be well-trained to provide smoking cessation advice, and 21% were confident regarding their knowledge on OC. The 5th year students showed significantly better knowledge and practices than the 4th year students did (p < 0.01).ConclusionThe study suggests significant gaps in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of senior dental students in Yemen regarding OC. The findings also underscore the urgent need to improve OC teaching and training of undergraduate dental students, and to provide periodic well-structured continuing professional development activities for dental professionals.
Project description:AimPrevious studies have shown that children of caregivers with low oral health literacy (OHL) had more untreated caries than children of caregivers with adequate OHL. However, there is a paucity of information on this relationship among children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Accordingly, this study aims to assess the association between the caregivers' OHL and the oral health status of CYSHCN.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in four schools dedicated for CYSHCN. A 48-item questionnaire gathered information about the demographic and socioeconomic factors, the child/adolescent's medical condition, dental characteristics, caregiver self-efficacy and the child's dental attitude. The Comprehensive Measure of Oral Health Knowledge (CMOHK) questionnaire was used to assess the caregivers' OHL. The Löe & Silness gingival index (GI) and the Silness & Löe plaque index (PI) were used to assess gingival health and plaque levels, respectively. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) were utilized for the selection of the appropriate set of confounding variables for regression analysis. The mean score differences and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated to quantify the associations of the various covariates with oral health outcome variables.ResultsThis study included 214 child/caregiver dyads. Most participants were physically disabled (56.1%) followed by children with hearing difficulty (9.8%) and congenital anomalies/syndromes (7.9%). The mean PI and GI of the children was 1.26±0.52 and 1.30±0.47, respectively. The median CMOHK score was 12 and the respondents were dichotomized based on the median value. Low caregiver oral health conceptual knowledge was significantly associated with higher PI scores (β [95% CI] = -0.26 [-0.41, -0.13]; p<0.001. Older participants (12-21-year-olds) had significantly higher plaque scores compared with younger participants (6-12-year-olds) (β [95% CI] = 0.33 [0.18, 0.51]; p<0.001). Participants who brushed their teeth twice or more daily had significantly lower (β [95% CI] = -0.15 [-0.43, -0.01]; p = 0.046). Conceptual knowledge score was not significantly associated with GI.ConclusionThis study found lower caregiver OHL levels to be associated with higher plaque scores for their child.
Project description:In Italy, smoking is still widespread among a relatively high percentage of young people. This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess smoking habits, passive smoke exposure, electronic cigarette (e-cig) and heated tobacco product (HTP) use, attitudes, knowledge, and needs among undergraduates. A questionnaire consisting of 84 items was developed starting from a literature review and existing questionnaires. A two-round validation was performed by a team of 10 experts. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI), the scale-level content validity index (S-CVI), and the kappa statistics k, taking into account chance agreement, were calculated from the experts' rating. The questionnaire was emailed to 114 students from the Obstetrics Degree of the University of Milan (Italy) to be pilot tested. After the second round of validation, all indexes were above the respective acceptability criteria: the I-CVI was 1.00 for all but three items, k was >0.74 ("excellent") for all items, and the S-CVI was 0.964. Eighty-nine students participated in the survey: 17 classified themselves as smokers, eight as new product users, and four as former smokers, 72% students declared to routinely spend free time with smokers, while almost all students believed that healthcare professionals play a pivotal role in preventing smoking towards their patients and society. This questionnaire will be used in a survey among students from the University of Milan as a first step for future campaigns targeting health promotion.