Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
29th International Congress of Turkish Society of Paediatric Dentistry, Ankara, Türkiye, 12 - 15 Ekim 2023, ss.103
Aim: Dental treatment of pediatric patients is generally described as difficult and complex by dentists. However, the factors influencing dental
students’ positive or negative perceptions towards pediatric patients during the school years remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in a group of students’ perceptions towards pediatric patients following pedodontic clinical training and examine the impact of
students’ psychometric characteristics on their perceptions of pediatric patients.
Methods: A total of 316 senior dental students,122 male and 194 female,participated in this study. Socio-demographic data and information
regarding changes in perceptions towards pediatric patients after pedodontic clinical training were collected through an online survey. In addition’’Strengths and Difficulties Questionnarie’’was applied to evaluate the phychometric characteristics of students. The effects of students’
socio-demographic characteristics on their perceptions towards patients were analyzed using the Chi-square test,while the influence of their
psychometric characteristics on these perceptions was assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: The relationship between the change in the perceptions of the students towards pediatric patients after the pedodontic clinical training,their dental phobias and choosing the faculty willingly were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). After the pedodontic clinical training, the
students’ changes in perceptions towards patients were statistically significant with their psychometric characteristics,including “social behavior,
externalizing and internalizing problems” (p<0.05).
Conclusions: The psychometric characteristics of dental students may influence their perceptions of pediatric patients, and therefore, psychological evaluation of students may be important in terms of determining how their approach to patients will be shaped in the future.
Keywords: dental students, pediatric dental patients, perceptions, strength and difficulties questionnaire