Chapel Hill Master of Science in Dental Hygiene program and a patient care coordinator at the Adams School of Dentistry.
Institute for the Environment and the Associate Director of the North Carolina Ocean Energy Program and the Coastal Studies Institute.
J Dent Hyg. 2022 Aug;96(4):57-64.
The planet faces a climate crisis threatening public health. Dentistry contributes to a large portion of the waste output in the United States. The purpose of this study was to assess dental hygiene (DH) students' perceptions and knowledge on environmentally sustainable dentistry (ESD) prior to and following an educational intervention. A convenience sample of second-year DH students (n=34) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) was recruited for this pilot study consisting of a pre-survey, an online educational module and immediate post-survey, and a final assignment followed by another post-survey. The educational module followed a funnel approach to educate learners on the topic of sustainability before narrowing down to how sustainability can be applied to dentistry. Paired t-tests compared pre- and post-module survey scores on changes in knowledge and attitudes. Univariate and qualitative analyses were conducted on the post-assignment component. Twenty-five participants had qualifying responses for the pre- and post-module survey (71.4% response rate); 22 participants completed the post-assignment survey (62.7% response rate). There was a statistically significant increase from pre- to post-module knowledge scores ( < 0.0005). Most respondents (>90%) indicated that the follow-up assignment strengthened their learning experience. Qualitative analysis revealed that the assignment helped participants apply module concepts in the real world and adopt less wasteful behaviors in clinic. Instructional interventions on ESD in DH education may improve students' knowledge of environmentally sustainable habits and encourage behavioral changes. Study findings can help introduce an environmental sustainability component to the DH educational curriculum.
地球正面临着一场威胁公众健康的气候危机。牙科在 美国的废物排放中占很大一部分。本研究旨在评估北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校（UNC-CH）二年级牙科卫生（DH）学生在接受教育干预前后对环境可持续牙科（ESD）的看法和知识。本研究采用方便样本，招募了 UNC-CH 的 34 名二年级 DH 学生参加这项试点研究，包括预调查、在线教育模块和即时后调查，以及最终作业和随后的另一次后调查。该教育模块采用漏斗方法向学习者传授可持续性主题的知识，然后再缩小范围，探讨可持续性如何应用于牙科。配对 t 检验比较了模块前后调查在知识和态度变化方面的得分。对作业部分进行了单变量和定性分析。有 25 名参与者符合预和模块后调查的资格（71.4%的回复率）；22 名参与者完成了作业后调查（62.7%的回复率）。从模块前到模块后的知识得分有统计学上的显著增加（<0.0005）。大多数受访者（>90%）表示，后续作业加强了他们的学习体验。定性分析显示，作业帮助参与者将模块概念应用于现实世界，并在诊所中采取减少浪费的行为。DH 教育中关于 ESD 的教学干预措施可能会提高学生对环境可持续习惯的认识，并鼓励行为改变。研究结果可以帮助在 DH 教育课程中引入环境可持续性部分。
