Background Dental students (DS) and medical students (MS) are exposed to COVID-19. It is important to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates in both these groups. We developed a survey to assess the vaccine hesitancy amongst MS and DS to COVID-19 vaccination. Methods The study was conducted at three U.S. dental schools and a medical school using an online survey which assessed (1) previous immunization behavior; (2) attitudes and perception of COVID-19 vaccines; (3) personal experience with COVID-19. Results 248 DS and 167 MS completed the survey. 45% of DS and 23% of MS were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In bivariate analyses, MS were 2.7 times more likely than DS to take the vaccine (OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.76, 4.31, p=0.0001). Although DS were more likely than MS (p<0.05) to have had COVID-19 and to personally know someone who had COVID-19, MS were more likely to agree with mandates and trust information about the vaccine. In multivariable analyses, after controlling for demographic variables, experience with COVID-19 and personal vaccination behaviors, being a MS or DS was no longer predictive of willingness to get the vaccine. Conclusions These results highlight the need for profession-specific curriculum designed to enhance student knowledge about the vaccine and vaccine counseling skills.

Background Dentists are a group of providers who have been identified by CDC at high risk of exposure to COVID‐19 through their contact with patients. This would apply to dental students as well. Thus, it is important to achieve high COVID‐19 vaccination rates in this group. Further, as healthcare providers, they are entrusted with providing health recommendations and advocating for their patients, community, and profession, including vaccinations. Methods Using ualtrics XM an online platform, in 2020, a survey was administered anonymously to dental students at three dental schools to assess the attitudes of dental students to the novel COVID‐19 vaccine. Factors and reasons associated with vaccine hesitancy and acceptance toward the COVID‐19 vaccine and likelihood of recommending and giving the vaccination to patients were assessed. Results Nearly, all participants had positive attitudes toward vaccines in general, agreed they would likely be exposed to COVID‐19, and personally knew someone who had COVID‐19; however, only 56% are willing to take a COVID‐19 vaccine as soon as an FDA‐approved vaccine was available. Of those unwilling to take the vaccine, 63% reported they would take it if mandated by the health systems/dental school; however, 16.3% of the overall respondents would not take the COVID‐19 vaccine even if mandated. Several factors are associated with vaccine acceptance and the likelihood of recommending the vaccination, such as trusting public health experts, concerns about side effects, and agreeing with vaccine mandates. Conclusion Our results highlight the need for an educational curriculum about the safety and effectiveness to promote the uptake of COVID‐19 vaccine.

This article examines current global oral health initiatives to underserved dental populations and assesses the level of familiarity with these initiatives among dental students. The World Health Organization (WHO)'s basic package of oral care (BPOC) is described, as well as successes and difficulties in global oral health initiatives. A survey was conducted of third-year dental students at a North American dental school to determine their familiarity with global oral health initiatives set out by the WHO and the World Dental Federation (FDI). The majority of the surveyed students (87 percent) expressed interest in volunteering their professional services in international settings. However, none of the surveyed students knew about the BPOC or the FDI's role in global oral health. The findings indicate that predoctoral dental public health courses in dental schools ought to include a course on global oral health to expose students to global oral health issues and equip them with interventions like the BPOC so they can provide better care to globally underserved dental populations.

Fluoride toothpaste use before the age of 6 years is a risk indicator for fluorosis in this study population.

In the summer of 1997, the College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, changed its predoctoral clinics from the traditional model to the comprehensive care (CC) model. Although the CC model is considered the better model for delivery of care, from the patient perspective it has not been previously evaluated. The purpose of this study was to compare the two dental care delivery systems-the traditional model and the CC model-using patient satisfaction. The Dental Satisfaction Questionnaire (DSQ) developed by the Rand Corporation was used to assess patient satisfaction. The questionnaire consists of nineteen items, measuring overall satisfaction and subscales of access, pain management, and quality. The questionnaire was selfadministered to active and recall patients in the summers of 1997 and 1998 to evaluate satisfaction with care in the traditional and CC models respectively. The completed DSQ was returned by 119 respondents in 1997 and 116 respondents in 1998. There were no significant differences in age, gender, and self-rated general and oral health of patients using the two delivery systems. No statistically significant differences were seen in the overall Dental Satisfaction Index and the sub-scales of access, pain management, and quality of care. Statistically significant differences were observed on only two of the nineteen individual items. We conclude that there was no difference in satisfaction levels of our patients between the two dental care delivery models.