Practice with confidence: Analyzing confidence level of final year dental students from four Saudi dental colleges in Riyadh

Abstract

Objective To investigate the confidence level of final year dental students in Riyadh. Materials Cross-sectional study was conducted at four dental colleges in Riyadh (N = 312, 220 and 70,5% responded). Oneway ANOVA and post hoc Tukey-Kramer was used. Results The greatest self-reported confidence scores were for pit fissure sealent (4.6(0.7)). Whereas, students reported least confidence in conducting surgical extractions (2.7 (1.2)). Females were found more confident in conducting preventive resin restorations, oral hygiene instructions, and rubber dam placement as compared to male who were more confident in surgical extraction, copy dentures, veneer preparation and managing orthodontic emergencies. Conclusion All students were confident in performing essential dental procedures however higher confidence was observed in performing simple procedures compared to more complex ones.