Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Trauma Among Dental Students in Thrace Region of Turkiye

Background and aimThe study aimed to determine the level of knowledge of Trakya University Faculty of Dentistry ۴th and ۵th grade students about the diagnosis and clinical management of dental traumatic injuries and to evaluate the effects of factors such as the students' age, gender, and study period.MethodsTotal of ۱۸۰ participants who were students in Trakya University Faculty of Dentistry were evaluated in ۲۰۲۲. The questionnaire comprised three chapters: the first chapter contained sociodemographic information, the second chapter contained general information such as trauma history, clinical experience, dental trauma education, and self-assessment of dental trauma knowledge, while the third chapter contained questions about the clinical management of dental trauma. Questionnaire reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, which was found to be ۰.۷۱۷. This indicates acceptable internal consistency (۰.۸ > α ≥ ۰.۷).The survey data underwent analysis using the chi-square test, the Mann-Whitney U Test, and multiple regression analysis.ResultsA total ۱۸۰ dentistry students in Trakya University participated in the survey. While ۹۰.۶% of the participants stated that they had not experienced any dental injury while continuing their education, ۵۰.۶% stated that they witnessed dental injury. ۷۱.۱% of the participants reported having a moderate level of knowledge regarding dental injuries.The results about clinical management of dental trauma showed that median level of case knowledge of the participants was ۱۱. Considering that the highest score that can be obtained is ۲۰, the participants are considered to have moderate case knowledge.When case knowledge level differed according to socio-demographic characteristics, it also differed significantly according to gender (z=-۳.۸۱۱; p<.۰۱). The case knowledge score (med=۱۲) of the female participants is higher than the score of the male participants (med=۱۰).ConclusionThe knowledge of dental students about the management of dental trauma was accepted but moderate.

کلیدواژه ها:

dental trauma ، Dental students ، Knowledge ، Education