Perception of Minimum Interventional Dentistry among Dental Undergraduate Students and Interns

Manal M Abdelhafeez; Fatima M Alharbi; Swati Srivastava; Elzahraa Eldwakhly; Selma A Saadaldin; Mai Soliman

doi:10.3390/medicina59040649

Perception of Minimum Interventional Dentistry among Dental Undergraduate Students and Interns

Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Mar 24;59(4):649. doi: 10.3390/medicina59040649.

Authors

Manal M Abdelhafeez^{1

2}, Fatima M Alharbi³, Swati Srivastava¹, Elzahraa Eldwakhly⁴, Selma A Saadaldin⁵, Mai Soliman⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Conservative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, P.O. Box 1162, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts, 6th of October City 12451, Egypt.
³ Department of Prosthodontics, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, P.O. Box 1162, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Prosthodontics Division, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada.

Abstract

Background: The philosophy of minimum interventional dentistry (MID) is to integrate prevention, remineralization, and minimal intervention for the placement and replacement of restorations. All branches of dentistry play an important role in practicing MID, and their primary goal is to realize that any restoration is of less biological significance than the healthy original tissue Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the perception of MID among dental undergraduate students and interns in terms of knowledge, attitude, and practice at the College of Dentistry. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students and interns at the College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed, which included basic demographic profiles and questions about the knowledge, attitude, and practices toward MID. The data were tabulated in MS Excel, and all statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 163 dental students were recruited, with senior students comprising 73% and interns comprising 27%. Male students were slightly more prevalent (50.9%) than female students (49.1%). About 37.6% of participants received training about MID during educational courses, while 10.3% received it during their internship. A statistical test revealed that the prevalence of interns who were trained in performing MID was significantly higher (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The majority of the participants demonstrated proper knowledge, attitude, and practice in different aspects of MID. Interns reported a higher rate of knowledge, attitude, and practice in MID compared to undergraduate students. However, more education and hands-on training about MID concepts during the college curriculum are necessary to attain better knowledge, attitude, and practices that could be useful for more conservative clinical practice.

Keywords: attitude; dental students; interns; knowledge; minimum interventional dentistry; practice.

MeSH terms

Attitude of Health Personnel*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dentistry
Female
Humans
Male
Perception
Students, Dental*
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R98), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.