There are a few studies of the perceived competency towards preventive dentistry among dental students from foreign universities, but the competencies of Ukrainian students have not been studied yet.The purpose of this research was to analyze the results of the study of self-perceived specialist’ competences in prevention of stomatological diseases that the fourth-year students of Ukrainian medical stomatological academy got during the third year of study. Object and methods of research. This was a cross-sectional study, with 206 students (84 males and 122 females). A self-administered questionnaire was employed with questions focusing on perceived specialist’s competencies in preventive dentistry. The responses to the questionnaire were collected in the form of “agree,” “disagree,” and “undecided”. Statistical evaluation was done using Chi-squared test, the significance level was set at 5%. Results and discussions. All students gave responses except 12 females (9,83%) and five males (5,95%) which had chosen “undecided”. There was no significant difference between genders (p>0.05). While the proficiency in providing recommendations of oral hygiene methods and products depending on the stomatological state was expressed by 45,14% of the students during practical classes and 67,96% of the students during the doctor practice, use of sanitary-educational work for oral hygiene education, planning of endogenous caries prevention for children at different ages, remineralization therapy, fissure sealing and planning of periodontal diseases prevention in children at different ages were the least grasped skills (from 25,24 to 36,41%, respectively). The students were more competent in managing patients at high risk of developing caries (p = 0.03), recommendations of oral hygiene methods and products depending on the stomatological state (p = 0.0001), supervised teeth brushing in children and professional oral hygiene (p = 0.0075) during the doctor practice than during practical classes. Our results might be influenced by the limited facilities (lack of dental units, phantoms for practical training of each student) and practical classes. It is known that students’ competencies in prevention dentistry are positively related to their study year. Thus, it is difficult to compare our results to studies conducted in foreign medical universities. The authors believe that competences of Ukrainian dental students will be improved by increasing of practical classes, improvement of motivation in the formation of future dentist’s identity, applying clinical cases programmed with software and introduction of objective structured clinical exam (OSCE). Conclusions. More attention should be draw to the mastering such competencies as use of sanitary-educational work for oral hygiene education, planning of endogenous caries prevention for children at different ages, remineralization therapy, fissure sealing and planning of periodontal diseases prevention in children at different ages. In the coming future examination of the professional competencies in prevention of stomatological diseases among graduate students will be very helpful tool.
«Bulletin of problems biology and medicine» Issue 1 Part 1 (148), 2019 year, 221-224 pages, index UDK 378.14:616.31:614.253.4
