Stress and Confidence of Undergraduate Dental Students With Different Levels of Clinical Experience in Managing Endodontic Emergencies: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives

To describe the stress and confidence of dental students during the management of an endodontic emergency (EE) and investigate the associated factors.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 227 undergraduate dental students undergoing clinical training (i.e., in the fourth, fifth, or sixth year) who responded to questions asking for their overall level of stress during an EE and their level of confidence in their ability to manage 50 steps of EE management related to communication and technical skills, and clinical examination and decision-making.

Results

Managing EE was perceived as slightly or fairly stressful by 70% of the fourth- to sixth-year students. The fourth- and fifth-year students felt significantly greater stress (p = 0.026) and lower confidence (p < 0.001) than the sixth-year students, as did women (p < 0.001 for both). No significant difference in stress or confidence levels was observed across the clinical training environments evaluated. Just over half of the students reported being confident about discussing a case with their teacher. The situations in which students felt least confident were patient management, crack detection, lymph node palpation, locoregional or intrapulpal anaesthesia, and intraoral drainage, and those in which students gained the most confidence in the sixth year compared to the lower grades were clinical decision-making.

Conclusions

Managing EE was perceived as slightly or fairly stressful for most students, and stress decreased, while confidence increased in the 3 years of clinical training. Although these findings are positive for the existing training program, there is still work to be done to improve students' learning experiences, especially on teacher receptiveness.