Citation

Fernandes Mugayar LR, Perez E, Nagasawa PR, Brown DG, Tolentino LA, Kuang HS, Behar-Horenstein LS. J. Dent. Educ. 2019; 83(3): 296-302.

Affiliation

Leda Regina Fernandes Mugayar is Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Florida; Edna Perez is Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatric Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Florida; Pamela R. Nagasawa is Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, School of Medicine, University of Washington; David G. Brown is Professor, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Lissette A. Tolentino is at the CTSI Clinical Translational Science Institute, University of Florida; Huan S. Kuang is at the CTSI Clinical Translational Science Institute, University of Florida; Linda S. Behar-Horenstein, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, University of Florida lsbhoren@ufl.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Association of Dental Schools)

DOI

10.21815/JDE.019.029

PMID

30692192

Abstract

The aim of this replication study was to determine if prior findings at one U.S. dental school about dental students' comfort discussing and perceptions of the relevance of 15 risk behaviors to adolescent patient oral health care would be observed at other institutions. All first- and fourth-year dental students (n=414) at three U.S. dental schools in fall 2017 were invited to participate, and 218 completed the survey (52.7% response rate). These students reported feeling comfortable to uncomfortable discussing risk behaviors with adolescent patients, yet perceived those risk behaviors as relevant to their oral health. There were significant differences in student comfort discussing risk behaviors with adolescents and their perceptions of relevance by gender, age, class status, and school location. Males were more comfortable than females discussing oral health risk behaviors. There were no significant differences by race/ethnicity. Fourth-year students had higher levels of comfort discussing risk behaviors than first-year students. Compared to students in the South and Midwest schools, students at the West school were more comfortable discussing selected topics and had higher perceptions of their relevance to adolescent oral health care. These results suggest there is room for improvement in this area of dental education. Dental schools should aim to strengthen students' knowledge of and comfort in discussing oral health risk behaviors with adolescent patients with the use of educational activities and clinical experiences.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescents; behavioral sciences; dental education; diagnosis/treatment planning; oral health; pediatric dentistry; professional responsibility; risk-taking behaviors