A survey study on the application of rubber dam technology by students with different educational levels

DONG Wen-liang; MA Ya-wei; LIANG Long-ning; GUO Wen-zhuo; YANG Hui-xia; ZHANG Jing

doi:10.15956/j.cnki.chin.j.conserv.dent.2024.01.006

Abstract：AIM:To understand the basic attitudes towards and the use of rubber dams by students of differ-ent education levels in the School of Stomatology,Ningxia Medical University,as well as the problems encountered in the process of the operation,so as to improve the teaching method of rubber dams that are more adaptable to clinical practice for dental students.METHODS:A questionnaire survey was conducted on 62 graduate students,60 regular trainees(national standardized training residents),63 fifth-year interns,and 123 third-year or fourth-year under-graduates from December 2021 to June 2023.Statistics on the basic attitudes and usage of rubber dams by our school students,and problems that may arise during the operation.SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis,and Excel table(Microsoft Excel 2010)and Word(Microsoft Word 2010)were used for data input and chart making.The chi-square test was performed to test the differences among different groups at the test level of α=0.05.RESULTS:90％of graduate students and regular trainees have used rubber dams during clinical practice,while only half of the in-terns(54％)and undergraduates(40.7％)have used rubber dams(P＜0.001);Most of the students were not satisfied with their current performance in rubber dam technique(P＜0.05),but more than 90％of the students expressed their willingness to master rubber dam related knowledge through more training and to continue to use rubber dam in their fu-ture work.And students believe that the biggest problem when using rubber dam is that the rubber dam clip is easy slip-ping of the rubber clip and leakage of the rubber barrier.CONCLUSION:Overall,students have a positive attitude towards the use of rubber dam technology.However,the usage rate in clinical practice is very low and the operation is not proficient.It is recommended that schools should strengthen clinical training and theoretical education related to the rubber dam technology.It is expected that rubber dam technology can be infiltrated into undergraduate education in the future,at the same time,the teaching physicians should focus on supervising education to improve and promote the use of rubber dam technology in future clinical practice.