| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2010 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 8 | Page : 371-375 |
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Knowledge of dental fluorosis of undergraduate dental students at a private university in Brazil
Juliana De Oliveira Ferla1, José Augusto Rodrigues1, Eduardo dos Santos Leonetti1, Kenitiro Suguio2, Jamil Awad Shibli3, Alessandra Cassoni1
1 Department of Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry Guarulhos University, São Paulo, Brazil
2 Department of Geoscience, School of Dentistry Guarulhos University, São Paulo, Brazil
3 Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry Guarulhos University, São Paulo, Brazil
Correspondence Address:
Alessandra Cassoni
Universidade Guarulhos, Pós-Graduação em Odontologia, Praça Teresa Cristina, 229, Centro - Guarulhos - SP - CEP 07023-070
Brazil
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
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Background : The understanting of the dental fluorosis process, that begins with enamel maturation, is important to Dentistry students, since fluoride has drastically decreased the incidence of caries in several population groups, with a resultant increase in fluorosis prevalence and severity, as shown in literature. Aims : The objective of this paper is to report the changes in the level of knowledge about dental fluorosis of undergraduate Dentistry students at Guarulhos University. Subjects and Methods : One hundred and twenty-four undergraduate students enrolled in the first and second semester (2008) and seventh semester (2008) were evaluated. The data was obtained through questionnaires with dichotomic questions (true and false) and an alternative to evaluate whether the subject had been presented in the classroom. The data obtained was submitted to statistical analysis using the Chi-square test (α=0.05). Results : When evaluating the first semester students, differences were verified in numbers of the questions assigned with the alternatives true or false, when compared with seventh semester students (p<0.001). However, there were no differences when the same questionnaire was applied to the first semester students after six months (p=0.358). Conclusions : It is possible to conclude that the six months period was insufficient to increase the level of knowledge about dental fluorosis, and when the students beginning and concluding the dentistry course were compared, there was an increase in the number of correctly assigned true or false questions in the latter group. |
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