The Influence of Dental Trauma Education on Undergraduate Students at Ajman University, United Arab Emirates: An Interventional Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of a lecture on dental trauma on the knowledge of undergraduate dental students at Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). METHODS: Fourth-year dental students were asked to attend a lecture on dental trauma and then respond to an online questionnaire containing 10 close-ended questions related to their approach to managing dental trauma cases and tooth avulsion before (T0) and directly after (T1) the lecture. They were given 5 min for filling the questionnaire either time. McNemars test was used to compare the accuracy of their answers based on the correct or incorrect response for each question. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The questionnaire was sent to 164 students, out of which 157 responded, giving a response rate of 95.7%. After receiving the educational intervention, the students showed a significant improvement in their knowledge on managing permanent tooth avulsion, especially regarding the handling of an avulsed tooth before replantation, extra-alveolar time, and media used for the storage and transportation of avulsed teeth (< 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study reveals that the lecture on dental trauma had an excellent outcome on the knowledge of the students. Therefore, it is essential to emphasize the importance of this information among undergraduate dental students in order to save teeth exposed to trauma and to reduce the social burden of such cases. This study contributes to better understanding of the effect of dental trauma education on undergraduate dental students’ knowledge of the subject.