Assessment of the Opinion of Kerman Dentistry Students, Iran, about Training Method and Equipment in the Dental Radiology Department

Clinical training is of great importance in dentistry, and has a direct impact on health of the society and treatment of patients. The present study was conducted with the aim to obtain students’ point of views about facilities, physical environment, and training methods in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on dental students, who had had passed at least 1 unit of radiology course. The participants were selected through census sampling method. The data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of 28 items in 5 scales and a section on demographic information. The 5 scales consisted of evaluation of equipment, quality of education in terms of diagnosis skills, quality of education in terms of clinical skills, practical education on patients, and miscellaneous questions. The questionnaire was designed by the researchers and its validity and reliability were evaluated. Data were analyzed in SPSS software using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). All P-values of less than 0.05 were considered significant.

Of the 146 respondents, 43.2% were men and 56.8% were women. The mean score of the questionnaire was 76.24 ± 14.42 from a total of 140. Overall students’ satisfaction was at a moderate level. Students’ satisfaction level with practical training in different techniques, and bone and dental fractures diagnosis using radiography was low. In the students’ view the quantity and quality of radiography devices was inadequate. There was no statistically significant association between different inputs in terms of satisfaction and the students’ gender.

The students in the present study were relatively satisfied with radiology courses. However, in their opinion, the quantity and quality of radiology devices were low. Thus, the repairing and updating of the radiography devices is recommended.