Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the world and created a shift in the dental education program. This sudden change in the dental education program may have affected the academic standards of dental students. This study aimed to evaluate the overall satisfaction and effectiveness of online learning in pediatric dentistry of undergraduate dental students’ during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.MethodsAn anonymous online survey was sent to three dental schools, and responses were collected from dental school students. Questions included the demographics, perspectives of online classes, comparison of online and offline pediatric dentistry classes and opinions on how dental schools are handling the pandemic. Students’ perspectives on online classes were evaluated based on satisfaction with online education. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsMost students took online classes from home (80.9%) using Zoom (50.4%). The majority reported overall program satisfaction (74.1%) and agreed that universities implemented online classes well (55%). Students who were in favor of online classes responded more positively to questions on the effectiveness and safety of online learning (p < 0.05). Regardless of satisfaction with online education, the students agreed that the online education shift was the right decision in pandemic outbreak.ConclusionsDental students in South Korea preferred and adapted well to the web-based learning program in pediatric dentistry during COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world and created a shift in the dental education program
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is a new respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 transmitted primarily by droplets of saliva, coughs, sneezes or exhales from an infected person [1]
This paper aimed to investigate the role of dental school in assimilating online education in response to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world and created a shift in the dental education program. This sudden change in the dental education program may have affected the academic standards of dental students. According to WHO, as of August 2021, there are globally almost 200 million confirmed cases and over 4 million deaths. The acceleration of the number of confirmed cases and deaths as this global health threat continued to spread over, the need for development of safe and effective vaccines was urgent. To end COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide vaccination has been deployed in hopes of reaching herd immunity and as of August 2021, there were almost 4 billion vaccine doses administered [2]. Delta variant infections threaten herd immunity and being fully vaccinated does not necessarily perfectly immune one from the possibility of breakthrough infection [3] and one is still encouraged to take precautions and continue to wear masks, clean hands, and keep appropriate social distancing
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
