Knowledge of fresh graduates in the field of dentistry regarding interceptive orthodontics

Abstract

Introduction: Identifying a developing orthodontic problem is a primary role of dental practitioners. The awareness about Interceptive Orthodontics is important for them so that they may reach the correct diagnosis and carry out the necessary treatment or make appropriate referrals where required. Therefore, our aim was to assess the knowledge regarding Interceptive Orthodontics amongst freshly graduated dental students.

Material and methods: A validated questionnaire consisting of nine multiple choice questions was distributed by hand across different dental institutes in the twin cities along with online data collection from February 2020 to June 2020. The respondents were house officers who had graduated in the years 2018 and 2019.Each question was given a score of 1 if answered correctly and 0 if answered incorrectly.

Results: The questionnaire was returned by 136 respondents out of which 65 were incorporated in the analysis. Knowledge regarding early loss of deciduous teeth and management of space discrepancy was above average (67.7% and 53.9% respectively). Whereas it was poor regarding canine impaction and first permanent molars of poor prognosis (27.7% and 10.8% respectively). The overall knowledge about Interceptive Orthodontics was found to be poor  38.5%

Conclusions: The knowledge of fresh graduates in the field of dentistry regarding Interceptive Orthodontics is poor. Interceptive Orthodontics should be made a part of the undergraduate curriculum in Pakistan.