Oral Health Attitudes among Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students in Germany

Abstract

Oral health care providers are expected to show good examples of oral health behaviours and attitudes to their community. Previous studies displayed the constructive effect of dental education on oral hygiene manners of undergraduate students. The aim of this survey was to assess and compare aspects of oral health attitudes and behaviours between preclinical and clinical dental students in German universities. The German-language version of the HU-DBI was distributed to preclinical and clinical students from different German universities. Dichotomized (agree/disagree) responses to 20 HU-DBI items were provided in this study, with a maximum possible score of 19. A quantitative estimate of oral health attitudes and behaviours was provided by the total of appropriate answers given to every statement by each group. Data were analysed statistically. The overall mean score of answers favouring good oral hygiene was marginally higher in preclinical (14.62) than clinical students (14.31) but showed no statistical significance. Similarly, the analysis of each item individually displayed no statistically significant differences between preclinical and clinical participants, except in a single item of the survey. This study showed no effective differences in oral hygiene attitudes and behaviour between preclinical and clinical students in German universities. This reveals a weak effect of dental education on improving students’ oral health attitudes in Germany and might demand the introduction of more courses emphasizing the importance of correct oral health behaviour of health care providers.

Oral Health Attitudes among Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students: A Pilot Study and Self-Assessment in an Egyptian State-Funded University

“…However, obviously inconsistent with previous results [12][13][14]35] and similar to the results of preclinical students at German universities [3], the preclinical students at Ain Shams University appeared more observant in regard to their dental aesthetics and halitosis (Items 13 and 16) than their clinical colleagues, as well as appearing to care more about oral health-advantageous nutrition (Item 20). This reflects the motivation of preclinical students toward their own health, as observed in previous examinations [3,39], which often highlight the lack of knowledge and education necessary to correctly accomplish desirable oral health behaviour [3,13]. This knowledge deficiency was displayed in the current survey, as preclinical students believed it was possible to brush their teeth properly without toothpaste (Item 14), used the wrong type of bristles and brushing techniques (Items 7-9), and reported deteriorating teeth despite brushing (Item 10).…”

“…However, this possibility seems to be less conceivable or desired by students in Egypt or similar Middle Eastern societies, in which university-or public-based patient treatment is complementary and dedicated to the lower classes of society [36]. In agreement with earlier outcomes from the private educational sector in Egypt, as well as from other countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, India, and Germany [3,[12][13][14]37], clinical students at Ain Shams University exhibited more frequent toothbrushing of every tooth (Item 9), at least twice a day or after every meal (Items 4 and 5), using a gingival health-favouring toothbrush and a professional brushing technique (Items 7 and 8). The stated outcomes of Items 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 also conform with the observed statistically significant outcome for the preclinical students in terms of more pronounced gingivitis and unacceptable gingival aesthetics (Item 15), as well as frequent gingival bleeding after toothbrushing (Item 6), all of which clearly indicate the superior periodontal health of the clinical participants.…”

“…Education regarding the correct health behaviour is reported to be an essential component for the successful prevention of diseases in numerous medical fields, such as dentistry and oral public health [ 2 ]. Being one of the most effective approaches to educate the public about oral health, the self-applied oral hygiene measures and related behaviour and attitudes of dentists can immensely impact a society’s oral health [ 3 ]. These measures exhibit the self-perceived preference of oral healthcare professionals toward oral health and are translated practically through their oral health behaviour as they aim to become decent role models of the mindset and habits required for adequate oral health.…”

German Dentists’ Preferences for the Treatment of Apical Periodontitis: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Most of the non-responders did not contribute for no explicit reason or due to the absence of a reward, as observed in similar studies [ 4 ]. Sociodemographic data of the participants showed a similar gender distribution compared to the dental population in Germany and Europe ( Table 1 ) [ 24 , 25 ]. The majority of the survey participants were dentists with no specialization (general practitioners), currently practicing in their own practice with a work experience of more than 20 years ( Table 1 ).…”

“…The results obtained may not be representative for other German states or generalizable on all dentists in Germany. However, it could serve as an indicator of German dentists’ main preferences due to the equality of dental education and training in Germany as explained in previous studies [ 24 ]. Furthermore, it may be important to add radiographic diagnosis and patient symptoms to the clinical case scenarios as they could be crucial to make the correct treatment decisions [ 4 ].…”