Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students

Abstract Background The aims of this article are to assess dental students’ knowledge about herbal medicine usage and the potential benefits and side effects, and to conduct a short course about herbal medicine. Methods All fourth-year pre-doctoral students were invited to participate in a herbal me...

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Main Author: Zuhair S. Natto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2022-12-01
Series:BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-022-03801-z
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author Zuhair S. Natto
author_facet Zuhair S. Natto
author_sort Zuhair S. Natto
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description Abstract Background The aims of this article are to assess dental students’ knowledge about herbal medicine usage and the potential benefits and side effects, and to conduct a short course about herbal medicine. Methods All fourth-year pre-doctoral students were invited to participate in a herbal medicine course as a test while the sixth-year students were the control group. A survey was tested for validity and reliability. It comprised of 16 multiple choice questions was given before the course and one month after the course. The sum score of knowledge for each participant was calcuated based on the ability to identify the use of herbs in dentistry with high-quality evidence (correct answer) or total answer for periodontal disease and caries. Results The response rate for completing the study was 112 fourth-year students (73.7%) and 64 sixth-year students (39.0%). More than half of the participants (52.5%) were unsure about the importance of herbal medicine in dentistry. However, the majority also stated that the most common herbs used in dentistry were clove (62.9%), followed by curcuma turmeric (54.7%) and meswak (43.0%). The fourth-year students displayed evidence of a higher overall knowledge score after the course in herbal medicine related to periodontal disease in total and correct answers (mean 4.48 ± 4.13, 3.73 ± 3.31, respectively) compared to before the course (mean 0.84 ± 1.23, 0.74 ± 1.16, respectively) (p-value < 0.001). The post-course periodontal disease total and correct answers were statistically significant between fourth- and sixth-year students. Conclusion Herbal medicine has a potential positive impact on dentistry. However, these effects are not fully investigated and received full attention in academic institute. This short educational program related to medicinal herbs can improve the knowledge of dental students. This will help increase the awareness about the use and potential side effects of herbal medicine in the dental field.
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spelling doaj.art-dd164e0b63a549d482900a31c6d3875d2022-12-22T03:48:35ZengBMCBMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies2662-76712022-12-012211810.1186/s12906-022-03801-zAssessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental studentsZuhair S. Natto0Department of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz UniversityAbstract Background The aims of this article are to assess dental students’ knowledge about herbal medicine usage and the potential benefits and side effects, and to conduct a short course about herbal medicine. Methods All fourth-year pre-doctoral students were invited to participate in a herbal medicine course as a test while the sixth-year students were the control group. A survey was tested for validity and reliability. It comprised of 16 multiple choice questions was given before the course and one month after the course. The sum score of knowledge for each participant was calcuated based on the ability to identify the use of herbs in dentistry with high-quality evidence (correct answer) or total answer for periodontal disease and caries. Results The response rate for completing the study was 112 fourth-year students (73.7%) and 64 sixth-year students (39.0%). More than half of the participants (52.5%) were unsure about the importance of herbal medicine in dentistry. However, the majority also stated that the most common herbs used in dentistry were clove (62.9%), followed by curcuma turmeric (54.7%) and meswak (43.0%). The fourth-year students displayed evidence of a higher overall knowledge score after the course in herbal medicine related to periodontal disease in total and correct answers (mean 4.48 ± 4.13, 3.73 ± 3.31, respectively) compared to before the course (mean 0.84 ± 1.23, 0.74 ± 1.16, respectively) (p-value < 0.001). The post-course periodontal disease total and correct answers were statistically significant between fourth- and sixth-year students. Conclusion Herbal medicine has a potential positive impact on dentistry. However, these effects are not fully investigated and received full attention in academic institute. This short educational program related to medicinal herbs can improve the knowledge of dental students. This will help increase the awareness about the use and potential side effects of herbal medicine in the dental field.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-022-03801-zHerbal medicineDentistryCourseKnowledgeEducation
spellingShingle Zuhair S. Natto
Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Herbal medicine
Dentistry
Course
Knowledge
Education
title Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
title_full Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
title_fullStr Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
title_full_unstemmed Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
title_short Assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
title_sort assessing knowledge of herbal medicine course for dental students
topic Herbal medicine
Dentistry
Course
Knowledge
Education
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-022-03801-z
work_keys_str_mv AT zuhairsnatto assessingknowledgeofherbalmedicinecoursefordentalstudents