Perception of Undergraduate Students at the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové Regarding Their Endodontic Education and Suggested Improvements.

Martin Kapitán,Lenka Vavřičková,Jakub Suchánek

doi:10.14712/18059694.2020.19

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the perception of undergraduate dentistry students at Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, the Czech Republic regarding their endodontic education within the context of the Undergraduate Curriculum Guidelines for Endodontology by the European Society of Endodontology (ESE). The secondary aim was to compare this perception among students in the Czech and English groups. A questionnaire survey was conducted among fifth year students at the very end of their studies. The students returned 60 filled questionnaires, making the response rate of 75.9%. More than two thirds of the respondents declared that they were competent at or had knowledge of most of the major competencies defined by the ESE. Eighty seven percent of respondents felt competent to perform a root canal treatment on anterior teeth; 86.7% on premolars; and 48.3% on molars. Nearly all respondents (98.3%) recommended more opportunities to practice on patients. The overall perception of the students was that their endodontic education was sufficient and largely conformed to the guidelines. Insufficient exposure to endodontic practice on patients was identified as a deficiency. There were no significant differences in perceptions between the two study groups.

Highlights

Root canal treatment (RCT) is the treatment of teeth with irreversibly damaged or necrotic dental pulps with the goal of preserving the non-vital but functional tooth in the mouth (1)
As there is no official state-guaranteed specialization in endodontics in the Czech Republic, RCT falls into the basic spectrum of treatment modalities provided by general dental practitioners
The primary aims of this study were (i) to assess the perception of the undergraduate students at Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, the Czech Republic regarding the endodontic curriculum within the context of the Undergraduate Curriculum Guidelines for Endodontology published by European Society of Endodontology (ESE) in 2013; (ii) to evaluate endodontic education from the point of view of the students at the time of graduation in terms of other factors, i.e. quality and range of the lectures, extent of practical training, and suitability of the included topics; (iii) to document students’ perceptions about their own endodontic experience, e.g. number of treated canals/teeth in patients and in vitro, the confidence in root canal treatment of different teeth; and (iv) to gather suggestions for improving endodontic education

Summary

Introduction

Root canal treatment (RCT) is the treatment of teeth with irreversibly damaged or necrotic dental pulps with the goal of preserving the non-vital but functional tooth in the mouth (1). As there is no official state-guaranteed specialization in endodontics in the Czech Republic, RCT falls into the basic spectrum of treatment modalities provided by general dental practitioners. During undergraduate dentistry studies, students need to be familiarized with endodontology and achieve sufficient skills to be able to perform RCT independently. The European Society of Endodontology (ESE) published recommendations about undergraduate endodontic curriculum in 2013 (2). There are 3 domains of endodontic competencies defined: scientific foundations of endodontic practice, nonsurgical endodontic treatment and surgical endodontic treatment. Each domain has several corresponding major competencies with specified required level of skills. The different levels of skills are defined and approved by the Association of Dental Education in Europe (3) (Table 1)

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion