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Objectives To investigate final-year dental students' perceived motivation for choosing dentistry as a professional career at one dental school in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Method Final-year dental students of Ajman University (n = 87) completed a questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate analysis of the data were undertaken using statistical software. Results A response rate of 82% (n = 71) was achieved, 65% of whom were female. Students ranged from 21 to 29 years of age. Motivation to study dentistry was led by a ‘desire to work in health care’ (93%), ‘wish to provide a public service’ (88.7%) and because ‘degree leads to a recognised job’ (84.5%). Males were significantly more likely to report ‘high income’ (84% vs. 67%; P = 0.01) and females ‘influence of family’ (80% vs. 60%; P = 0.02) as motivating influences. The reliability and internal consistency of the instrument as calculated by Cronbach's alpha was 0.82. Eight factors explaining the 71% of the variation were: ‘professional job factors’ (11.7%), ‘experience and advice’ (9.8%), ‘business and financial with independence’ (9.7%), ‘careers, advice and possibilities’ (8.9%), ‘knowledge and job security’ (8.8%), ‘health care, people and public service’ (8%), ‘family and friends’ (7.2%) and ‘career in dentistry’ (6.9%). Gender was a significant predictor of ‘business and financial’ factor (b = −0.76; P = 0.003) and age for ‘careers in dentistry’ (b = −0.18; P = 0.03). Conclusion Students are motivated by a wide range of factors similar to those found in other studies; however, business features and family influences were significantly associated with gender.

Objectives: To find the relationship of diabetes control to periodontal status in type 1 diabetic patients and to compare the severity of periodontal disease of type-1 diabetics (IDDM) and non-diabetics and to further compare the periodontal status in the controlled and uncontrolled diabetics in a group of Libyan population to form a baseline reference for future researches.Materials & Methods: The periodontal status of 30 diabetic and 30 control subjects was examined. The diabetic group was further subdivided into controlled and uncontrolled groups.Results: There were significant differences between the whole diabetic group and the control group in terms of the periodontal status. A comparison between the controls and diabetic subgroups revealed that controlled diabetic patients had poor periodontal health than controls. Within the diabetic subgroups, there was more loss of attachment in the uncontrolled diabetics.Conclusion: Better periodontal health in the diabetic patients may be related to good control of diabetes, indicating better resistance of the periodontium.