Riodontic Course Effects On Knowledge, Attitude, And Practice Of Dentistry Students And Its Impact On Mouth And Dental Care

Background In the  field  of  education,  a  great deal  of  quality  improvement  is remained  to  be  achieved Assessment  of  educational   courses  appears to  be  necessary  for  quality  improvement  in  all  curriculums, therefore  studies  for  assessment  of  educational outcomes  and  impacts  are  of high priority.  In a dentistry faculty, the mouth and dental health care among dentistry students can be considered as a potential indicator of students' educational   achievement.Purpose To study knowledge, attitude and practice impact on mouth and dental health care among dentistry faculty  students both before and after passing practical periodontic courses  in Shahed University of Medical Sciences during academic year 2001-2002Methods In this  cross-sectional  study  140 students  of  dentistry  faculty  of  Shahed  University  of  Medical Sciences took part. Necessary data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Knowledge of the subjects on mouth  and  dental  health  care were assessed by 10 close-ended  questions  and their altitude  on mouth and dental health care were assessed by 5 Likert scale questions. Assessment of practice was performed in a 3-step researcher-administrated interview.Results Demographic data gathered via questionnaires indicated that 49.6 % {6-1 students) of the students who took  part in the study were male and 50.4% (65  students)  were  female. of  our participants, 59.7% were admitted through Shahed  quota, while the rest were admitted  through free quota. There was no significant difference in students' knowledge, attitude and practice on mouth and dental health care between the students who had not passed practical courses in periodontics and those who had passed these courses.Conclusions There was no significant association between knowledge, altitude and practice on mouth and dental  health care  and passing practical courses in periodontics  among  dentistry faculty students in Shahed University of Medical  Science. Our results suggest that students' practice on mouth and dental health care might be affected by other factors like mass media, but quality of periodontics courses and practical courses in periodontics should be improved as these courses can promote knowledge, attitude and practice impact on the dentistry students, mouth and dental health care.Keywords knowledge, attitude, practice, practical course, periodontics, mouth and dental health care