Level of Uunderstanding of Prosthodontics among the Undergraduates of a Tertiary Hospital in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: Dental students should be aware of the "expectation" connected with any specific speciality in dentistry in order to seek additional education in that field. As a result, students' level of understanding of different specialisations, in a significant part, permits a meaningful knowledge that facilitates optimal planning in the dental sector for the community. Hence the aim of the study was to assess the level of understanding prosthodontics and to determine the factors resulting in learning difficulties in Prosthodontics among the undergraduate dental students.

Materials and Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was undertaken among third year, final-year dentistry students and dental interns enrolled in a dental college of Bhubaneswar city. It had 16 questions used to classify the responses to the questions regarding choosing prosthodontics as a post-graduate specialty. Chi-square test for proportions was used to look at group differences. At p 0.05, statistical significance was considered to be present.

Results: The majority of the study participants found prosthodontics to be an intriguing yet challenging subject. 52.7% of the interns thought it was engaging yet challenging. After earning their BDS, most students (74.3%) planned to pursue postgraduate studies; 11% wanted to work for the government; and just 8% wanted to engage in clinical practice.

Conclusion: Students were satisfied with the calibre of their prosthodontic education, and suggestions were provided for how to improve it.