ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION/AIMS: We aimed at using drawings as a form of data collection to give voice to older and younger generations in regards to educational practices in undergraduate dentistry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First year dental students (younger generations) and faculty members (older generations) produced drawings depicting their perceptions of the current dental education learning environment. Qualitative analysis was conducted independently by two researchers using the drawings to produce codes, categories and themes. RESULTS: 15 drawings were produced: 9/34 (26.4%) made by students and 6/20 (30%) made by faculty members. The generated themes indicated that students and faculties found that dental education is going through a challenging time, because of the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and that they were aware about the evident division between basic/preclinical and applied/clinical courses. Faculties showed hopeful signs that the situation may get better. Students' drawings evoked the following topics: digital connectedness, diversity, time goes by, and future aspirations in Dentistry. DISCUSSION: This study reinforced the validity of visual methods as an approach in research and showed different graphical features (features that might be intentionally or unintentionally represented in the drawings) that gave voice to participants. These voices could have been invisible in more traditional qualitative approaches, such as interviews or questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: Although the two groups of participants came from different generation cohorts, they had aligned perceptions regarding challenges in dental education, and mentioned the separation between preclinic and clinic. Drawings were unique, innovative, and an interesting tool to express perceptions regarding today's learning environment. These insights can consequently help educators to personalize teaching approaches to better meet the needs of the students.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: As people around the world are facing the Covid-19 outbreak, their perception of oral health problems could be changed. This study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents. METHODS: A cohort study with schoolchildren from southern Brazil was conducted. Data on adolescents' OHRQoL were collected from December 2019 to February 2020 (T1), before the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak. Posteriorly, the data were collected again in June and July of 2020 (T2), under the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak. The OHRQoL was assessed using the Brazilian short version of the CPQ11-14. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the degree of social distancing were also assessed. Changes in OHRQoL between T1 and T2 were evaluated by adjusted Multilevel Poisson regression models for repeated measures. RESULTS: From 290 individuals evaluated at T1, 207 were reevaluated at T2 (response rate of 71.3%). The overall CPQ11-14 mean score was significantly lower during the pandemic, reducing from 10.8 at T1 to 7.7 at T2. This significant reduction was also observed for all CPQ domains, indicating a lower negative impact of oral conditions on adolescents' quality of life during the pandemic. Adolescents from families that had a middle or low degree of social distancing during the pandemic and whose parents were harmed in employment had higher CPQ11-14 scores. CONCLUSION: Overall and specific-domains CPQ-14 scores were significantly lower during the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak, indicating a decrease in the perception of oral health problems by adolescents over that period.