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Exploration of different school of thoughts among undergraduate dental students regarding dental caries and periodontal diseases

Introduction: The concepts about dental caries and periodontal diseases are learned at dental schools may directly influence the conduct of the future dentists regarding the control and treatment of these diseases. Aim: To assess the variation in the understanding of the concepts of dental caries and periodontal diseases among first to final year undergraduate dental students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among 400 students pursuing their graduation in a private dental college situated in Sri Ganganagar city, Rajasthan, India. Descriptive analysis was done, and Chi-square test with a significance level of 5% was done to compare the frequency based data. Results: For concepts related to dental caries, the 1st year students' response showed shift toward biological concept, which was also present for the 2nd year but the 3rd year onwards the majority of students cited the comprehensive multi-factorial concept (P = 0.0002). Final year students were more knowledgeable than the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students regarding gingival bleeding, swelling, redness, and bad breath being the most important signs of periodontal disease (P = 0.004). Conclusion: Significant variation in the school of thoughts and limited knowledge regarding the concepts of common dental diseases among dental undergraduate students is seen. There might be a need to reform the initial concept building methods utilized in dental institutions to improve the basic knowledge of undergraduate students of the common dental diseases.