Objectives: To determine the financial expenses incurred over the duration of the undergraduate dental course in Thailand Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all 658 dental undergraduates in Mahidol University, Thailand. Data were collected through the self-administered questionnaire, including (1) “Background”: household income, hometown, and residence during study, financial source(s), (2) "Expenses": Living costs including foods, transportations, rents, utility bills, and recreational expenses; Education-related expensesincluding textbooks, stationeries, uniforms, and student activities fees. A cost-median was used as a representation of the actual cost of each item. The mean differences of all expenses between groups before estimation was assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistically significant difference was at p < 0.001. Results: A higher proportion of the participants' families financially supported, with household income between THB50,001 - 100,000 (2,118.1 – 4,235 USD), while only 5% have additional funding. Students who rented accommodation spent significantly higher yearly expenses than those who were not (p<0.001). The estimated adjusted cost of becoming a dentist is THB1,265,027 (53,580 USD) and THB1,823,027 (77,214 USD) for students living at home and renting accommodation, respectively. Conclusion: The cost of Thai dental education can be a significant financial burden, especially for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic status.

Objectives To determine the overall estimated financial impact and related expenses incurred over the duration of the undergraduate Dental Degree in Thailand. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all 658 dental undergraduates in Mahidol University, Thailand. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire, including the following information: (1) “Background and Demographics”: household income, hometown, residence during study and source(s) of any financial aid received; (2) “Living Expenses”: Living costs including food, transportation, rent, utility bills, and recreational expenses; (3) ”Education related expenses”: Including textbooks, stationeries, uniforms, and student activities fees. A cost-median was used as a baseline representation for the actual cost of each item. The mean differences of all expenses between groups before estimation was assessed by using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method. The statistically significant differences were identified at p < 0.001. Results The estimated adjusted cost of becoming a dentist in Thailand is THB1,265,027 (36,143.63 USD) for students living at home and THB1,823,027 (52,086.49 USD) for those renting accommodation. Students who rented accommodation incurred significantly higher yearly living expenses than those who were living at home. (p < 0.001). The majority of participants (78.4%) were in households having a middle-to-high socioeconomic status. Ninety-five percentages of the participants’ received 100% financial support from their families with no additional source of income, which reflects no real diversity in the socioeconomic background of Dental Degree students. Conclusion The cost of a higher education Dental Degree in Thailand can be a significant barrier to entry and financial burden, especially for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Government and Educational Policy makers need to pay more attention to this issue in order to provide equal opportunities for obtaining a University Dental Degree for all Thai students wishing to pursue this career path.

Background Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the oral cavity that affects many patients’ daily living activities. The goal of treating OLP is to relieve symptomatic pain, and reduce inflammation. Topical corticosteroids are the first-line drug for treating OLP. OLP clinical trials should use a tripartite approach comprising clinical signs, symptoms, and quality of life. The Oral Impact on Daily Performances index (OIDP) is an Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) measure developed to assess the ultimate impacts. The aims of this study were to evaluate the clinical, pain and OHRQoL responses after treating OLP patients with topical corticosteroids for 1 month, and secondly to assess the relationships of changes in the clinical sign score, pain score, and OHRQoL. Methods Seventy-two OLP patients were recruited to assess their clinical outcomes and patient-based outcomes after treating them with topical corticosteroids for 1 month. The clinical outcomes were evaluated by the highest and total Thongprasom sign score. The patient-based outcomes were evaluated by a pain rating scale using a numeric rating scale (NRS), and OIDP. The self-rated overall changes in quality of life during the 1-month treatment period using the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) were also recorded at the follow-up visit. Results This study comprised 59 women (81.9%) and 13 men (18.1%). The total OIDP percentage score was 19.1 ± 10.5 at baseline. The most commonly affected activities were Emotional stability (94.4%), followed by Eating (86.1%) and Cleaning the oral cavity (65.3%). At the 1-month follow-up visit, the highest Thongprasom sign score, total Thongprasom sign score, pain score and total OIDP percentage score were significantly reduced after treatment with topical corticosteroids (P < 0.01). None of the patients reported a lower quality of life. Forty-six percent reported the same or up to moderately improved, while 54% had a greatly improved quality of life as assessed by PGIC. There were no significant differences in the improvement of clinical and patient-based outcomes between these outcome groups. There were significant relationships between the difference in the highest Thongprasom sign score and the difference in total Thongprasom sign score (r = 0.293; P < 0.05), and the differences in total OIDP percentage score and the difference in pain score (r = 0.427; P < 0.001). The differences in the total Thongprasom sign score also significantly related to the difference in the total OIDP percentage score (r = 0.335; P < 0.01). However, no significant relationship was found between the difference in the highest Thongprasom sign score and the difference in patient-based outcomes. Conclusion Topical corticosteroids were significantly effective after 1-month treatment of OLP based on the clinical and patient-based outcomes. The OHRQoL improvement was significantly related to the reductions in pain and clinical severity. Trial registration The trial was registered at the Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR identifier: TCTR 20221110001).