The Viewpoints of Last-Year Dentistry Students of Shahid Beheshti University on the Application of Lasers as an Independent Credit in the Education of General Dentistry

Abstract

Introduction: Enhancing students’ pragmatic skills as an enabling means brings about changes in their curriculum, which should be reconciled with the students’ educational needs. Thus, this study seeks to examine the viewpoints of last-year dentistry students on the need for the instruction of laser application as an independent credit in the general dentistry curriculum. The findings of this study can help determine the educational priorities of students while providing and compiling their curriculum. Methods: This descriptive study was done on 91 last-year dentistry students of Shahid Beheshti University in a full census manner. The data collection tool was a fieldwork questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which were evaluated. To report the findings, frequency distribution, frequency percentage, and average tableaux were utilized. Results: Amongst the 91 participants, regarding the average figures of value assignment from 1 to 10 to respond to questions, the highest value was assigned to learning the side effects of lasers (7.99 ± 0.01) and the lowest value was assigned to learning about the history of lasers and light physics (4.53 ± 0.47). Conclusion: The findings indicate that students have a positive attitude toward the incorporation of an independent laser credit in their curriculum and thus the necessity of incorporating this credit in their curriculum can be posed.