Experiences during the execution of emergency endodontic treatment and levels of anxiety in dental students.

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the experience of dental students and assess their anxiety levels when performing emergency endodontic treatments. Undergraduate students completed the STAI-Trait/State and a questionnaire to assess their confidence level to perform each step of an emergency endodontic procedure. They also answered a numerical scale (NRS) for anxiety before and after emergency care. Ten randomly selected students from the same sample further participated in a focus group aimed at obtaining qualitative data on their perception of endodontic treatments' conduction and the learning process necessary to perform them. A total of 23 students joined the study. The majority of the participants reported feeling "confident" when performing local anaesthesia (57.6%), rubber dam placement (57.6%) and coronal sealing (72.7%). However, a small number reported feeling "little confident" to perform access cavity (15.2%) or pulpotomy/pulpectomy (24.2%). Students who scored above the 3rd quartile of STAI-Trait/State were classified as "highly anxious," and comprised 26.1% of the sample. The values of NRS scale were higher in the preoperative when compared with the post-operative assessment. All students classified as "highly anxious" reported low confidence in performing "access cavity" and "pulpotomy/pulpectomy." Both quantitative and qualitative analysis showed different anxiety levels in dental students. It can possibly contribute to a reduction in confidence prior to emergency endodontic procedures. The current findings suggest it might be important to rearrange activities in order to allow for more practical classes in Endodontics.