PERIODONTIC COURSE EFFECTS ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY STUDENTS AND ITS IMPACT ON MOUTH AND DENTAL CARE

Abstract

Background In the field of education, a great deal of quality improvement is remained to be achieved Assessment of educational courses appears to be necessary for quality improvement in all curriculums, therefore studies for assessment of educational outcomes and impacts are of high priority. In a dentistry faculty, the mouth and dental health care among dentistry students can be considered as a potential indicator of students' educational achievement. Purpose To study knowledge, attitude and practice impact on mouth and dental health care among dentistry faculty students both before and after passing practical periodontic courses in Shahed University of Medical Sciences during academic year 2001-2002 Methods In this cross-sectional study 140 students of dentistry faculty of Shahed University of Medical Sciences took part. Necessary data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Knowledge of the subjects on mouth and dental health care were assessed by 10 close-ended questions and their altitude on mouth and dental health care were assessed by 5 Likert scale questions. Assessment of practice was performed in a 3-step researcher-administrated interview. Results Demographic data gathered via questionnaires indicated that 49.6 % {6-1 students) of the students who took part in the study were male and 50.4% (65 students) were female. of our participants, 59.7% were admitted through Shahed quota, while the rest were admitted through free quota. There was no significant difference in students' knowledge, attitude and practice on mouth and dental health care between the students who had not passed practical courses in periodontics and those who had passed these courses. Conclusions There was no significant association between knowledge, altitude and practice on mouth and dental health care and passing practical courses in periodontics among dentistry faculty students in Shahed University of Medical Science. Our results suggest that students' practice on mouth and dental health care might be affected by other factors like mass media, but quality of periodontics courses and practical courses in periodontics should be improved as these courses can promote knowledge, attitude and practice impact on the dentistry students, mouth and dental health care. Keywords knowledge, attitude, practice, practical course, periodontics, mouth and dental health care