Evaluation of undergraduate dental students' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards teledentistry: does a course enhance this?

Teledentistry is a part of telemedicine and can be used for dental diagnosis, dental care, consultation, and dental education. The objective of this study was to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of undergraduate dental students toward teledentistry, as well as to investigate the influence of enrolling in a teledentistry course on these variables. A structured questionnaire-based online survey (Google Form) was used as the survey tool to evaluate the undergraduate dental students' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards teledentistry. All undergraduate dental students during the 2022-2023 academic year, were invited to join this questionnaire. The questionnaire was posted to the students who agreed to answer the survey online. Associations between categorical variables were evaluated using the Pearson Chi-square test or Fisher-Freeman-Halton Exact test. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare two independent groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare more than two independent groups. All analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (IBM Corp. Released 2015, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). The significance level was set at p < 0.05 for all analyses. Explanatory factor analysis and item analysis were used for the evaluation of the validity of the questionnaire. There were 293 participants from five classes, with a 36.08% response rate; 190 (64.8%) were female and 103 (35.2%) were male, with a median age of 21 years (minimum 17 years, maximum 44 years). In this study, 37.9% of the participants had heard of teledentistry, 30.7% knew what teledentistry is, approximately one-third of the students were aware that there is a course called teledentistry in our faculty, and only 11.6% took the course. Undergraduate dental students had high levels of knowledge and awareness about the advantages and limitations of teledentistry. Dental students who had taken the course had a more positive attitude towards using teledentistry. Enhancing dental students' knowledge and awareness of teledentistry could beneficially influence their utilization of teledentistry in their future careers. This study is not a clinical trial involving medicinal products or therapeutic interventions, so the clinical trial number is not applicable.

Akçiçek G ，Katı E ，Zengin HY 《BMC Medical Education》

Artificial intelligence knowledge, attitudes and application perspectives of undergraduate and specialty students of faculty of dentistry in Turkey: an online survey research.

This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate as well as specialty dentistry students in Turkey concerning artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications. The study was conducted between October 16, 2023, and January 16, 2024, with participants consisting of volunteers from dental faculties in Turkey. A total of 335 undergraduate students and 62 specialty students participated in the survey, which utilized non-probability convenience and snowball sampling methods. Cronbach's alpha was utilized to measure the internal consistency of the scale. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 26.0, with quantitative data presented as mean ± standard deviation and categorical data as frequency (percentage). The statistical level was set at 0.05, and the analysis involved Pearson's Chi-square test and Fisher-Freeman-Halton tests. The results indicate that undergraduate and specialty students perceive the integration of large datasets as the primary advantage of AI. The speed, objectivity, and potential to reduce misdiagnosis rates associated with AI are also highlighted. Undergraduate students express more significant concern about the impact of AI on patient understanding and empathy compared to specialty students. Additionally, both groups strongly advocate for the inclusion of AI-related courses in dental education and acknowledge the indispensability of AI in dental practice. The significant roles of AI in dentistry, such as providing evidence-based dental approaches and compensating for human intellectual limitations, are widely recognized. Furthermore, consensus exists that AI will primarily assist in diagnosis and treatment decisions. The findings emphasize the importance of cautiously managing AI's role in healthcare services and underscore the need to prioritize patient privacy and data security. AI should be regarded as a complement to the work of dental professionals rather than a substitute. The study recommends further research involving a larger and more diverse sample to obtain a comprehensive understanding of attitudes toward AI in dentistry.

Yılmaz C ，Erdem RZ ，Uygun LA 《BMC Medical Education》

Turkish dental students' knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of oral cancer.

This survey aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of dental students across multiple dental faculties in Turkey regarding oral cancer. The survey instrument, derived from the questionnaire developed by Horowitz et al., was translated into Turkish and distributed to participants. The survey consisted of 27 questions assessing participants' practices regarding oral cancer examination, their evaluation of patient risk factors, and their perceptions of their educational preparedness. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS V23. The Fisher-Freeman-Halton test and Pearson Chi-Square test were employed for categorical data comparisons, while multiple comparisons were analyzed with the Bonferroni-corrected Z test. A significance level of p < 0.05 was applied. The study enrolled a total of 603 dental students (239 males [39.6%] and 364 females [60.4%]) from 10 different dental faculties. Participants were distributed across three academic years, with 202 (33.5%) in the third grade, 280 (46.4%) in the fourth grade, and 121 (20.1%) in the fifth grade. The findings indicated that students demonstrated a high level of awareness regarding factors such as tobacco (98.7%), alcohol (82.9%), and ultraviolet (UV) exposure (94.5%). However, their knowledge appeared to be lacking in relation to other risk factors, including older age (74.9%) and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection (83.7%). Overall, the study suggests that dental students in Turkey exhibit a moderate level of awareness concerning oral cancer. The outcomes of this investigation underscore the pressing need for enhancements in oral cancer education and training for undergraduate dental students. Furthermore, there is a visible need for the implementation of periodic, well-structured continuing professional development activities aimed at enhancing the oral cancer-related competencies of dental professionals in practice.

Yüksel İB ，Bahrilli S ，Altındağ A 《-》

Global cross-sectional student survey on AI in medical, dental, and veterinary education and practice at 192 faculties.

The successful integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare depends on the global perspectives of all stakeholders. This study aims to answer the research question: What are the attitudes of medical, dental, and veterinary students towards AI in education and practice, and what are the regional differences in these perceptions? An anonymous online survey was developed based on a literature review and expert panel discussions. The survey assessed students' AI knowledge, attitudes towards AI in healthcare, current state of AI education, and preferences for AI teaching. It consisted of 16 multiple-choice items, eight demographic queries, and one free-field comment section. Medical, dental, and veterinary students from various countries were invited to participate via faculty newsletters and courses. The survey measured technological literacy, AI knowledge, current state of AI education, preferences for AI teaching, and attitudes towards AI in healthcare using Likert scales. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc test. The survey included 4313 medical, 205 dentistry, and 78 veterinary students from 192 faculties and 48 countries. Most participants were from Europe (51.1%), followed by North/South America (23.3%) and Asia (21.3%). Students reported positive attitudes towards AI in healthcare (median: 4, IQR: 3-4) and a desire for more AI teaching (median: 4, IQR: 4-5). However, they had limited AI knowledge (median: 2, IQR: 2-2), lack of AI courses (76.3%), and felt unprepared to use AI in their careers (median: 2, IQR: 1-3). Subgroup analyses revealed significant differences between the Global North and South (r = 0.025 to 0.185, all P < .001) and across continents (r = 0.301 to 0.531, all P < .001), with generally small effect sizes. This large-scale international survey highlights medical, dental, and veterinary students' positive perceptions of AI in healthcare, their strong desire for AI education, and the current lack of AI teaching in medical curricula worldwide. The study identifies a need for integrating AI education into medical curricula, considering regional differences in perceptions and educational needs. Not applicable (no clinical trial).

Busch F ，Hoffmann L ，Truhn D ，Ortiz-Prado E ，Makowski MR ，Bressem KK ，Adams LC ，COMFORT Consortium ... -  《BMC Medical Education》

Longitudinal integration of environmental sustainability in the dental curriculum: Assessing changes in student awareness, attitudes and knowledge.

(i) To implement an educational strategy to embed environmental sustainability across all years of an undergraduate dental curriculum and (ii) to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy through changes in students' awareness, attitudes and knowledge of environmental sustainability in dentistry. Four environmental sustainability teaching interventions were delivered across all five years of an undergraduate dentistry programme. A pre-tested survey was administered to students at baseline and post-intervention to evaluate changes in awareness, attitudes and knowledge of environmental sustainability in dentistry (ESD). A total of 270 matched participants were included in the final comparative analyses, representing a response rate of 69 %. Statistically significant positive changes in awareness of ESD (p<.001), attitudes towards ESD (p=.011), general pro-environmental attitudes (p<.001) and knowledge of ESD (p<.001) were observed from baseline to post-intervention. Analysis of the influence of the year of the study demonstrated the effectiveness of the different teaching interventions, with significant differences noted for awareness of ESD (p<.001), general pro-environmental attitudes (p=.022) and knowledge of ESD (p=.001) between year groups from baseline to post-intervention. This study provides a real-world example of how ES can be longitudinally embedded across the dental curriculum. The effectiveness of this approach has been confirmed through an assessment of the change in awareness of ESD, attitudes towards ESD, the extent to which implementing ESD is easy, general pro-environmental attitudes and knowledge of ESD before and after the curriculum initiative. Significant positive changes were noted for all outcome measures except the extent to which implementing ESD is easy. The most significant changes were noted for awareness of ESD and knowledge of ESD across all years of study. Oral healthcare has a significant environmental impact, the key to all mitigation strategies is by educating the profession at all levels.

Dixon J ，Baird HM ，Field J ，Martin N ... -  《-》