IADR Abstract Archives
Barriers and Perceptions of Nutritional Counseling Among Dental Students
Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the barriers, facilitators, and perceptions surrounding the provision of nutritional counseling among dental students in the pre-doctoral dental clinics at Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry (OHSU SOD).
Methods: A 15-question survey was administered in Qualtrics to second-, third-, and fourth-year dental students (DS2, DS3, and DS4, respectively) at OHSU SOD via their respective online social media group pages. Students were asked about demographics, confidence to discuss diet on systemic and oral health, barriers to caries risk assessment, frequency of nutritional consults, recommendations for promoting diet in the clinic, as well as personal dietary behaviors. The survey consisted of multiple-choice, ranking, and open-ended questions. Data analysis utilized SPSS v. 25.
Results: There were a total of 22 DS2s, 25 DS3s, and 35 DS4s (n = 82). 11 students (13%) stated they had previous nutritional training prior to dental school, however, 23% stated they were very or extremely confident to discuss oral health and general health. 82% of students never, rarely, or sometimes talk about eating a balanced diet. The greatest barriers to discussing diet within caries risk assessment were lack of time (28%) and patient interest (28%). Top recommendations for providing more consults included a required clinical skills assessment (34%) and more hands-on demonstration with cooking courses (19%). A statistically significant association exists between confidence with talking to patients about oral and general health and discussing consumption of dietary sugar, eating a balanced diet, and diet and oral health (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Dental students receive sufficient nutritional health education, however, there exists barriers to discuss eating a balanced diet on general and oral health, which can be addressed through innovative interventions. Further studies are needed to explore the effectiveness of such interventions.
Methods: A 15-question survey was administered in Qualtrics to second-, third-, and fourth-year dental students (DS2, DS3, and DS4, respectively) at OHSU SOD via their respective online social media group pages. Students were asked about demographics, confidence to discuss diet on systemic and oral health, barriers to caries risk assessment, frequency of nutritional consults, recommendations for promoting diet in the clinic, as well as personal dietary behaviors. The survey consisted of multiple-choice, ranking, and open-ended questions. Data analysis utilized SPSS v. 25.
Results: There were a total of 22 DS2s, 25 DS3s, and 35 DS4s (n = 82). 11 students (13%) stated they had previous nutritional training prior to dental school, however, 23% stated they were very or extremely confident to discuss oral health and general health. 82% of students never, rarely, or sometimes talk about eating a balanced diet. The greatest barriers to discussing diet within caries risk assessment were lack of time (28%) and patient interest (28%). Top recommendations for providing more consults included a required clinical skills assessment (34%) and more hands-on demonstration with cooking courses (19%). A statistically significant association exists between confidence with talking to patients about oral and general health and discussing consumption of dietary sugar, eating a balanced diet, and diet and oral health (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Dental students receive sufficient nutritional health education, however, there exists barriers to discuss eating a balanced diet on general and oral health, which can be addressed through innovative interventions. Further studies are needed to explore the effectiveness of such interventions.
