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Objective: Outreach activities are one of the essential components of dental education that would help the students understand the community's oral health needs. The study aimed to engage dental undergraduate students in measuring their oral health status using four dental indices among middle school students. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted as a part of an oral health education program in two public schools in Jeddah. Consent was obtained from both school students and parents. Two calibrated examiners measured the dental status using Ramfjord's calculus index, decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, simplified debris index, and modified gingival index. An independent statistician did data analysis using SPSS ver 23. Results: Male students showed statistically significant higher scores for debris index, calculus index, and gingival index compared to female students (P < 0.001). The mean D and M component DMFT indices were significantly higher in female students (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The variations in oral health status between students can be attributed to differences in oral hygiene practices and other sociodemographic factors, including ethnicity and socioeconomic status. This study showed a positive learning experience for dental students in assessing the oral health status of schoolchildren. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Gender-based preferences are common in dental practice and maybe even more prevalent in academic dentistry. A large number of females have been entering the practice of general dentistry for the past two decades. The present study was done to assess dental students' perception of gender preferences in dentistry using a questionnaire in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted using a pretested questionnaire among dental interns pursuing their internship at different dental schools in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were distributed to 482 interns who were willing to participate in the survey. All the responses were collected, tabulated, and analyzed accordingly using appropriate statistical methods. Results: Four hundred and eighty-two dental interns (180 males and 302 females) responded to the survey. Most female interns (68%) prefer female patients for their treatments to the opposite gender. Seventy-five percent of the male interns felt more capable than females to handle stress and workload associated with branches such as prosthodontics, surgery, and implantology. 52.1% felt that female students fared well in academics. Conclusion: The present study shows that more females are taking up this profession in the current situation. It also shows that females are as competitive as males in dentistry and that most of the dental interns want to take up postgraduation after completion of the course. Both males and females are given equal working space and respect in this field of dentistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Clinical photographs have become an important entity in contemporary dental education in Saudi Arabia. The study assessed the knowledge and skills related to clinical photography among final-year undergraduate dental students in different dental schools in the Western province of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A face-to-face interview was conducted using a pretested and validated questionnaire after obtaining relevant consent from the college administration and the students. Trained and calibrated data collectors interviewed the dental students between November 2019 and February 2020. Results: The knowledge related to clinical photography was "good" only in 17.2% of the participants, and most of the students demonstrated "poor" knowledge (58.9%). Digital single lens-reflex (DSLR) camera was used by only 43.9% of the students for taking clinical photographs. The practice of taking informed consent from patients for taking and using clinical photographs was reported in 77.6% of the dental students. Conclusion: The knowledge related to dental clinical photography was not satisfactory, and students need to improve the understanding of the proper functioning of digital cameras and also the medicolegal issues related to clinical photography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]