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 《BMC CANCER》

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》

Knowledge and Awareness of Dental Students Regarding Human Papillomavirus and Oral Cancer in Saudi Arabia.

Alsalhani AB ，Tarakji B ，Mehsen Alali F ，Alhedyan FS ，Abdulaziz Alduaydi N ，Saleh Alshlwi M ，Saad Alqahtahni A ，Raqe Alqhtani N ，Musa'ad Almutairi F ，Bin Nabhan A ，Ayidh Alqahtani K ，Robaian A ，Noushad M ，Nassani MZ ... -  《-》

Dental Education for Prevention of Oral Cancer in Turkey: Needs for Changing the Curriculum.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of dental students on oral cancer in Istanbul, Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire adapted from Tanriover et al. consisting of 48 questions was distributed to 311 students enrolled in the fourth and fifth grades of a dental faculty in Istanbul, Turkey. Questions were grouped under 5 main headings: socio-demographic features, knowledge on risk factors and diagnostic procedures, history taking regarding to alcohol and smoking status, opinions and behaviors of oral cancer, and distribution of dental students according to diagnostic practice of oral cancer. The frequencies and percentages were calculated with descriptive analysis. The differences in distributions were analyzed using the chi-squared test. The p value was set at 0.05 for statistical significance. The overall response rate was 98% (305/311). The majority of the students identified tobacco and alcohol as risk factors (82% and 75.1%, respectively), while older age and inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables were less likely to be known (60.2% and 52.8%, respectively). Almost one-fifth of the students stated that they have never performed oral cancer examinations during their first or subsequent dental examinations of their patients. Female students thought that dentists were authorized to make oral cancer examinations with a higher frequency compared to males (65.8% and 34.2%, respectively; p = 0.006). On the other hand, female students reported that they did not receive adequate education regarding cessation of smoking with a higher frequency compared with males (69.2% female and 30.8% male respectively; p = 0.0001). As this present study revealed that future dentists had insufficient knowledge in some of the main concepts on oral cancer risk factors, and they lacked the confidence in performing oral examinations in their patients, it is concluded that there is a need for a more structured teaching program with greater emphasis on the early signs and risk factors of OC. Reorganization of the dental curriculum, and courses which further draw attention on the responsibility of the dental practitioner in the detection of oral cancers will be beneficial for the creation of awareness on this significant topic among future dental workforce. Understanding the knowledge and perception of dental students on oral cancers is not only limited to a specific country but it is a worldwide critical issue in which information should be exchanged.

Ozdemir-Ozenen D ，Tanriover O ，Ozenen G ，Ozdemir-Karatas M ，Ozcakir-Tomruk C ，Tanalp J ... -  《-》