Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug;27(3):633-639.
doi: 10.1111/eje.12850. Epub 2022 Sep 29.

Association between perceived self-confidence and abilities to distinguish oral mucosal lesions amongst dental students

Liliana Wolf Braun  1 , Pâmela de Souza Kargwanski  1 , Ana Paula Borngräber Corrêa  2 , Vivian Petersen Wagner  1 , Marco Antonio Trevizani Martins  1   3 , Ylana Elias Rodrigues  2 , Manoela Domingues Martins  1   3 , Vinicius Coelho Carrard  1   2   3
Affiliations

Association between perceived self-confidence and abilities to distinguish oral mucosal lesions amongst dental students

Liliana Wolf Braun et al. Eur J Dent Educ. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Dentists usually refer to difficulties in performing the diagnosis of oral mucosal lesions. This may be attributed to limited access to theoretical lectures and practical training on this subject along the graduation course. The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to verify if there is an association between the perception of time dedicated to lectures/training and oral diagnosis abilities in oral medicine. The secondary aim was to evaluate the association between self--confidence to perform oral mucosal lesions diagnosis and performance in a diagnostic abilities test.

Materials and methods: The sample comprised 36 final-year dental students of a South-Brazilian dental school. The participants answered a questionnaire on their perception of time dedicated to lectures on oral medicine along the course (sufficient or insufficient) and their self-confidence to diagnose oral mucosal lesions or oral cancer (yes or not). The students were also submitted to a diagnostic abilities test based on 30 clinical photos of oral lesions, which should be classified as benign, potentially malignant or malignant. Moreover, the participants had to inform their clinical impression for each case. Finally, the participants informed their decision making for the case (refer the patient to a specialist or not).

Results: Students with higher self-confidence showed a higher percentage of correct answers on classification of the nature of lesions (81.1% vs. 68.5%, p = .03, teste t de Student) and on their clinical impression (66.3% vs. 41.7%, p < .01, Student's t-test). The perception of time dedicated to theoretical lectures on oral medicine as sufficient did not influence the students' diagnostic abilities (p > .05, Student's t-test) CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that self-confidence to diagnose oral lesions is associated with dental students' diagnostic abilities.

Keywords: distance learning; oral diagnosis; self-confidence; undergraduate students.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Douglass DGD. Making a comprehensive diagnosis in a comprehensive care curriculum. J Dent Educ. 2002;66(3):414-420.
    1. Akram A, Bashir U, Yasmin S, Sattar K, Meo SA. Integrated undergraduate dental curriculum. J Pak Med Assoc. 2019;69(9):1331-1336.
    1. Darling MR, Daley TD. Oral pathology in the dental curriculum: a guide on what to teach. J Dent Educ. 2006;70(4):355-360.
    1. Petersen PE. Oral cancer prevention and control - The approach of the World Health Organization. Oral Oncol. 2009;45(4-5):454-460.
    1. Antunes JLF, Toporcov TN, Biazevic MGH, Boing AF, Bastos JL. Gender and racial inequalities in trends of oral cancer mortality in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Rev Saude Publica. 2013;47(3):470-478.

LinkOut - more resources