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The Ergonomic Challenges Students Face during Operative Dentistry Treatment

Introduction: Students must possess good theoretical knowledge in order to perform correct clinical treatments with good prognosis and in safe conditions but merging theoretical knowledge and clinical practice in dental education is a challenge for both the training staff and the students. Up until now, no studies have been published in our country regarding the challenges faced by dental students in their clinical works performance for restorative dentistry and endodontic treatments. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the factors that may influence the performance of restorative and endodontic treatment procedures performed by 5th year dental students and their own perception on clinical work. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in February 2020. A self-made questionnaire with 13 questions was distributed via e-mail link to 5th year dental students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hat‚ieganu Cluj Napoca, Romania, Department of Conservative Dentistry, all 5th year dental student who had previously undergone two years of clinical training. One hundred eleven students were selected after applying the inclusion criteria that were, having two years of clinical training experience and having passed their theoretical ergonomics, restorative dentistry and endodontics examinations. Descriptive Statistics were used for data analysis. Results: The majority of the students 83% (n=92) encountered difficulties applying the rules of ergonomics related to posture. The most common causes that prevented students from applying the rules of ergonomics during the clinical work were challenges related to working in indirect vision (n=90), lack of help by an assistant during treatment (n=52), working time allocated being too short (n=50), lack of sufficient space around the unit (n=43). Regarding the theoretical level required for restorative cases diagnosis, treatment plan and treatment itself, 64% (n=71) of students claimed to have had the necessary theoretical knowledge in most cases they met and only 25% (n=28) could confidently treat all cases. Establishing the diagnosis and treatment plan for endodontic cases was difficult stage for 3.6% (n=4) of students, of average difficulty in the case of 81.1% (n=90) of students, while 15.3% (n=17) did not consider them difficult at all. Conclusion: The results indicated that students had high levels of confidence in their theoretical knowledge when establishing the diagnosis and the treatment plan, but they encountered multiple challenges both with working ergonomically and with mastering the practical skills needed in different stages of the treatment.