Evaluation of Final-Year Turkish Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Perceived Competency towards Preventive Dentistry

Table 4

Differences in the competence towards preventive dentistry in terms of self-perceived training/educational needs and gender (n = 126).

Self-perceived competence towards preventive dentistry	Self-perceived training/educational needs (n)	Mean (SD)	p value	Gender (n)	Mean (SD)	p value
Giving oral hygiene instruction	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	4.13 ± 0.68	<0.001	Female (79)	3.82 ± 0.95	0.672
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	3.43 ± 1.11		Male (47)	3.89 ± 0.93
Dietary counselling	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	3.36 ± 1.12	0.002	Female (79)	3.05 ± 1.18	0.598
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	2.70 ± 1.17		Male (47)	3.17 ± 1.18
Applying topical fluoride for deciduous and permanent teeth	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	3.81 ± 0.89	0.003	Female (79)	3.73 ± 0.97	0.032
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	3.23 ± 1.15		Male (47)	3.31 ± 1.12
Applying fissure sealants for newly erupted teeth	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	4.13 ± 0.81	0.191	Female (79)	4.12 ± 0.80	0.267
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	3.84 ± 1.10		Male (47)	3.82 ± 1.12
Managing patients at high risk of developing caries	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	3.74 ± 0.97	0.028	Female (79)	3.59 ± 1.02	0.977
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	3.35 ± 1.07		Male (47)	3.57 ± 1.05
Applying a chairside screening test for caries activity	Students reported not having educational/training needs (75)	2.93 ± 1.24	0.167	Female (79)	2.87 ± 1.30	0.502
	Students reported having educational/training needs (51)	2.62 ± 1.24		Male (47)	2.70 ± 1.15

SD, standard deviation. Statistical evaluation by the Mann–Whitney U test. Significant p-values are marked in bold.