Knowledge, practices and perceptions regarding oral health preventive measures among Mexican dental students: a cross-sectional survey study
Por:
Anguillar Diaz, F., Ponce-Cruz, Y. R., Mortellaro, C., Giacomello, M., Manfredi, B., Khijmatgar, S., Biagi, R., Lucchina, A. Greco, Del Fabbro, M.
Publicada:
1 abr 2021
Resumen:
Although oral diseases are mostly preventable, they remain a global
public health problem. Thus, there is a need for trained personnel to
actively intervene in promoting oral health, to prevent and timeously
detect oral diseases, and, in turn, to provide comprehensive quality
healthcare. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the
knowledge, practices and perceptions regarding oral health preventive
measures amongst undergraduate dental students. This cross-sectional
study was conducted between the period October 2017 and January 2018.
The subjects included were undergraduate students of the dental science
program at the School of Dentistry, in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico. A
validated questionnaire was used to identify knowledge of preventive
dentistry and the frequency of oral health preventive actions in the
dental school clinics. Besides, perception towards prevention in
dentistry was assessed. A total of N=232 undergraduate students
participated of whom 65.9% (N=153) were women. More than half of the
students 59.5%, (N=138) rated their knowledge on the prevention of oral
diseases as good, followed by 32.8% (N=75) of students who rated it as
regular. 49% (N=97) of the students performed frequently preventive
treatments in their daily clinical practice. 90% (N=217) think that the
main reason of low practice of prevention in dentistry is the lack of
commitment of the dentist. 72.8% (N=169) mention that there should be
professionals dedicated exclusively to preventive dentistry. Students of
second grade demonstrated better prevention knowledge and tended to
engage more frequently in preventive activities (p<0.05). In conclusion,
our study found that, second-year students perform preventive practices
more frequently and these practices decrease as their studies progress.
It should be sought to create positive attitudes towards prevention not
only in the year in preventive dentistry, but also throughout the entire
career. This enables students to become trained professionals that can
deliver preventive services to their patients.
Filiaciones:
Anguillar Diaz, F.:
Publ Hlth Natl Autonomus Univ Mexico, Dept Prevent Dent & Paedodont, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Ponce-Cruz, Y. R.:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Dept Prevent Dent & Pedodont, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Mortellaro, C.:
St Camillus Int Univ Hlth Sci, Res Lab Regenerat Med & Tissue Engn, Rome, Italy
Giacomello, M.:
Univ Milano Bicocca, Dept Med & Surg, Milan, Italy
Manfredi, B.:
Univ Milan, Dept Biomed Surg & Dent Sci, Milan, Italy
Khijmatgar, S.:
Univ Milan, Dept Biomed Surg & Dent Sci, Milan, Italy
Biagi, R.:
Univ Milan, Dept Biomed Surg & Dent Sci, Milan, Italy
Lucchina, A. Greco:
St Camillus Int Univ Hlth Sci, Res Lab Regenerat Med & Tissue Engn, Rome, Italy
Del Fabbro, M.:
(Corresponding Author), Univ Milan, IRCCS Orthoped Inst Galeazzi, Milan, Italy
Univ Milan, Dept Biomed Surg & Dent Sci, Milan, Italy
IRCCS Orthoped Inst Galeazzi, Dent Clin, Milan, Italy
|