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Background: The aim of this study was to assess the COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice among dental students (DS) and internship students at Ajman University (AU). Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among Ajman dental college students registered in the academic year 2019/2020, about COVID-19 during the first week of April 2020. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to all DS to examine their knowledge and attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Chi-square (χ2) test was used to investigate the level of association among categorical variables at the significance level of p < 0.05. Results: Out of 769 students in the dental college, majority (75%) had adequate knowledge of COVID-19, but only 40.6% of the participants projected a positive attitude. A positive behavior was reported by an overwhelming 94.5% of the participants. Participants above 25 years of age had significantly higher (p < 0.001) adequate knowledge (88.2%), positive attitude (56.9%), and positive behavior (100%) compared to those below 25 years of age. Study participants reported social media (71.1%), government websites (63.7%), and family and friends (41.0%) as top three sources of information regarding COVID-19 related information. Conclusion: The results of this study show that AU dental and internship students have adequate knowledge and positive attitude of the COVID-19 pandemic but the majority are not eager to adopt effective strategies to avoid the spread of COVID-19 (practice). Further education should be offered to encourage efficient infection management practices to protect students, faculty, and other university staff.
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OBJECTIVES: Dental students must complete two stages of training, namely, preclinical training on phantom head models and clinical training on actual patients to acquire the practical skills required by their Bachelor of Dental Surgery program.Our objectives are to evaluate the level of improvement of the manual skills obtained by third-year dental students after one full academic year of preclinical training courses using dexterity tests under direct and indirect vision and to compare the improvement among male and female dental students under the same conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 72 preclinical students participated in our cohort trial, each of whom was assigned a random identification number that was only known to the researchers. After the beginning of the academic year, the experiment was performed under identical conditions for both the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test and the Purdue Pegboard Test. The examinations were conducted at two distinct times: T0 before phantom laboratory training (the beginning of preclinical sessions) and T1 after phantom laboratory training (9 months after T0). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Signed-rank test of Wilcoxon over two separate periods (T0 and T1), comparisons were made between the direct and indirect visual dexterity test scores. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare results across gender. The statistical significance (p-value) was set at below 0.05 with a confidence level of 95%. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was detected between the T0 and T1 assessments on the Purdue Pegboard Test and the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test for all selected dentistry students in both direct and indirect conditions (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Further investigation in other dental departments or schools, particularly those with different entry standards, is required prior to making a definitive conclusion about the use of these dexterity assessments as predictors of prospective dental students' performance.
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OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to validate the accuracy of working length (WL) measurements obtained with the newly introduced Propex IQ apex locator and to compare it with the latest generations of other electronic apex locators, CBCT, and conventional periapical radiographs by using the actual WL measurements obtained by using an endodontics microscope as a reference. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five extracted single-rooted human mandibular first premolars with curvatures from 10° to 20° were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and cut at the cementoenamel junction to achieve a standard reference point for WL determination. The actual WL was obtained by inserting a size-15 k-file in the root canal until the tip of the file was visible under an endodontic microscope. The definitive WL was measured using Propex IQ (Dentsply Sirona), Raypex 6 (VDW Dental), Root ZX (Morita), and Apex ID (Kerr Dental). In addition, radiographic WL was obtained using periapical radiographs and CBCT. One-way ANOVA was used for comparisons of the WL values, with a p value < 0.05. The percentage of success of each method for determination of the definitive WL was assessed using cross-tabulation and chi-square tests. RESULTS: CBCT radiographs and Propex IQ apex locator yielded the most accurate WL measurements in comparison with the actual WL measurements (p < 0.05). Raypex 6, Root ZX, and Apex ID yielded more accurate WL measurements than conventional periapical radiographs (p < 0.05). Periapical radiographs yielded the least accurate WL measurements in comparison with the actual WL values (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study, the Propex IQ apex locator showed higher accuracy than Raypex 6, Root ZX, and Apex ID for WL determination in the root canal. Nevertheless, CBCT radiographs yielded the maximum accuracy for WL measurements.
