Dental Students’ Knowledge of Oral Health for Persons With Special Needs

Objectives: Persons with special health care needs (SHCN) are amongst the most underserved and having more dental disease than any other segment of the population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of dental students regarding oral health care of person with SHCN and evaluate the effectiveness of an education program on their knowledge.
Methods: An assessment in form of a questionnaire was completed before and immediately after the introduction of a 30 minute educational intervention in the form of a DVD that includes a PowerPoint presentation and a video of oral health care for person with SHCN. The questionnaire was based on the information presented in the DVD and included a 26-question (true/false/I do not know).
Results: The average (± SD) score on the pretest was 10.85 (± 5.20), which increased to 16.85 (± 5.47) on the post-test. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.000). Forty percent of the dental students surveyed reported that they were very satisfied with the educational component of this presentation, while 50% responded that they were somewhat satisfied. Thirty percent, of the dental students participating reported the educational intervention used in this study to be very effective, while 65% somewhat effective.
Conclusions: Viewing educational PowerPoint presentation with video was effective in communicating and providing sophomore dental students with instructive basic information on person with SHCN and resulted in significantly improved post-test scores. The educational intervention used in this study may be a time and cost effective way to increase the knowledge of dental students on the unique aspects of oral health for persons with SHCN. Ninety percent of the students reported that they were very likely or somewhat likely to use the information provided in the educational intervention.