Department of Paediatric Dentistry, State Key Laboratory of Oral & Maxillofacial Reconstruction and Regeneration, Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Stomatology, School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Mar 4;24(1):232. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05188-6.
Early childhood caries (ECC) causes severe, widespread oral health issues in children. Dental undergraduates and residents are expected to have a solid understanding of ECC for children's oral health promotion. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and clinical practice on ECC among dental undergraduates and residents in China.
A 23-item electronic questionnaire was distributed to 598 dental undergraduates (4th- and 5th-year undergraduates) and residents (1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-year residents) at the School of Stomatology, Wuhan University, China (in April-May 2023). SPSS Statistics was used to analyze the data using the Chi-square test at a significance level of 0.05.
A total of 422 questionnaires were completed by participants (recovery rate: 70.6%) from various academic levels. Around 77.3% of participants had heard of ECC (mainly from textbooks), and only 27.5% considered themselves familiar with it. Residents (79.8%) had higher risk awareness of ECC on children's overall health than undergraduates (58.3%) (p < 0.05), but only 54.0% of participants correctly defined ECC. Most participants had a positive understanding of ECC's pathogenic factors and preventive measures, including feeding patterns (71.6%), fluoride application (93.4%), and teeth cleaning (93.1%). Furthermore, only 50.2% of participants encountered ECC cases in clinic.
Despite having a suboptimal level of ECC-related knowledge and practice, dental undergraduates and residents in China demonstrated a more positive attitude towards its etiology-based prevention. Strengthening ECC education, guidance, and practice may enable them to gain a better understanding of ECC learning, which would benefit children's oral health.
婴幼儿龋（ECC）会给儿童带来严重且广泛的口腔健康问题。牙科本科生和住院医师应充分了解婴幼儿龋，以促进儿童口腔健康。本研究旨在评估中国牙科本科生和住院医师对婴幼儿龋的知识、态度和临床实践。
2023 年 4 月至 5 月，采用电子问卷对武汉大学口腔医学院的 598 名牙科本科生（四年级和五年级）和住院医师（一年级、二年级和三年级）进行调查。采用 SPSS Statistics 进行数据分析，采用卡方检验，显著性水平为 0.05。
共有来自不同年级的 422 名参与者（回收率：70.6%）完成了问卷。约 77.3%的参与者听说过 ECC（主要来自教科书），只有 27.5%的参与者认为自己对其熟悉。与本科生（58.3%）相比，住院医师（79.8%）对 ECC 对儿童整体健康的风险意识更高（p<0.05），但只有 54.0%的参与者能正确定义 ECC。大多数参与者对 ECC 的发病因素和预防措施有积极的认识，包括喂养模式（71.6%）、氟化物应用（93.4%）和牙齿清洁（93.1%）。此外，只有 50.2%的参与者在临床中遇到过 ECC 病例。
尽管中国的牙科本科生和住院医师对 ECC 的相关知识和实践水平欠佳，但他们对病因预防的态度更为积极。加强 ECC 教育、指导和实践，使他们更好地理解 ECC 学习，这将有利于儿童的口腔健康。
