Experiences of Left-Handed Dental Students in Australia.

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: The aim of this study is to understand how left-handed (LH) dental students perceive their education and identify areas for improvement in their training. Methods: All LH students in their senior clinical years of their programs, at the nine Australian dental schools, were invited to participate in the study, by completing an online questionnaire. Results: A total of 40 students responded to the survey. The clinical disciplines ranked most often in the top 3 for difficulty were operative (restorative) dentistry (73%), followed by similar percentages for periodontics (49%), prosthodontics (46%), oral surgery (45%) and endodontics (44%). Areas for improvement that ranked highest were instructors and supervisors, and dental chair orientation (both at 26%). Operating tools and equipment, and dental chair orientation (68%) were most often ranked in the top 3, followed by the interior design of the room (63%) and instructors and supervisors (61%). Keywords: dental education, left-handed dental students, perceived difficulties, improvements Conclusion: The findings suggest that LH students perceived greater difficulty from the inconvenience caused by inadequate design of the surgery and chair, and due to a lack of personalised teaching. The findings of this study support a need for alterations to learning environment to better support LH students in learning specific procedures and increasing access to individualised teaching approaches.