Impact of gender on attitude toward student-to-student local anesthesia administration

Introduction: In the undergraduate dental curriculum, student-to-student administration of first local anesthetic injection remains to be a traditional method in most of the dental institutions. This exercise is often foreseen by heterogeneous emotional responses both in student operator and respondent. Aim: This study evaluated the variations in attitude toward student-to-student LA administration and the associated anxiety levels among the genders. Materials and Methods: 40 female and 24 male preclinical dental students were provided with a questionnaire, containing statements of agreement. The experience and opinion throughout the procedure of first LA mandibular block administration was scored by the students using five-point Likert′s scale and their anxiety levels were measured with ′interval scale of anxiety response′ (ISAR) before, during and after administration of LA. The results were tested with Chi-Square test and Mann-Whitney test was used to know the significance of gender variation. Result: The perception of the operators as well as the recipient on mandibular anesthetic block injection analyzed by chi-square test showed significant values (P < 0.05) for all the statements. However, the gender variation performed by means of Mann-Whitney test demonstrated no significant statistical results. The anxiety evaluation using Mann-Whitney test showed significant variation among the genders both as an operator and respondent, except for the anxiety level of the operator after the injection procedure. Conclusion: This study illustrated the preparedness of the preclinical students for their first local anesthetic injections on humans and suggests for the required modification in the existing dental curriculum for a better training