Competencies Of Dental Public Health Among Dental Interns And Dental Practitioners And Their Self-Assessment

Abstract

Background: Competency frameworks have been used to accurately guide the training and assessment of professionals. Dental Public Health professionals require a variety of skills beyond clinical aspects to meet ongoing social, economic, epidemiologic, technological, etc. developments. The study aims: This study was conducted to assess dental public health competencies among dental interns and dental practitioners with different specialties. Methods: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried out on 406 dental interns and practitioners. The new competency for dental public health specialists of the 21st century was used in this study. The questionnaire was divided into four sections; the first section was about demographic data, the second section was about the best method to earn knowledge and skills about dental public health, while the third and[1] fourth sections were about dental public health competencies and the importance of each competency from our participants' point of view. Differences in frequencies between groups were assessed using the Chi-square test. The association between study participants' characteristics and competency level was studied using a linear regression analysis model. Results: Moderate Competency level was found among our participants (average score 3.80/6), and females were better than males (average score 3.95 vs. 3.70). Participants' age, qualifications, and specialty were significantly associated with their competency. Conclusion: Our findings support the urgent need for updating and improving the undergraduates' dental curricula, also continual dental education programs in dental public health specialists are highly recommended to be conducted by ministries of health in collaboration with dental schools.