Knowledge, confidence and clinical reasoning of dental students for diagnosing pediatric periodontal diseases

Objective

Given the importance of diagnosing periodontal diseases in pediatric patients, the objective of this study was to examine knowledge, confidence, and clinical reasoning of third- and fourth-year dental students regarding periodontal diagnosis and treatment planning in pediatric patients.

Methods

An explanatory sequential mixed-method study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the survey questions were administered online to the third-and fourth-year dental students. Surveys tested for knowledge, confidence and clinical decision-making using questions and case-studies. Answers from periodontists and the pediatric dentists were used as the gold standard. For the next phase, individual interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded followed by verbal analysis to assess their clinical reasoning for the specific diagnosis and treatment planning.

Results

While there was no overall difference in the knowledge and the confidence level between the students, they differed from the experts for some questions in confidence levels. As measured using the Script Concordance Test (SCT), no significant differences were observed between the participants in their clinical reasoning. The verbal analysis of the interview data showed that the students used three different patterns for searching through the problem space. Most of the students used the forward pattern of search and reported low confidence in diagnosing and treating pediatric periodontal diseases.

Conclusion

Due to low self-reported confidence in diagnosing periodontal disease in pediatric patients. Providing education solutions will improve the confidence of undergraduate dental students in diagnosing and treating periodontal disease.