Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) (Community Oral Health)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/10629

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Browsing by Subject "Attitude"

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    Knowledge, attitude and practices among caregivers, regarding early childhood caries, within the Great Kei Sub-District
    (Univeristy of the Western Cape, 2024) Smit, Danica Jean
    Introduction: Caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices, regarding primary teeth and early childhood caries (ECC), have been found to play a role in the development of ECC (Njoroge, 2007; Baskaradoss, 2018). Almost daily, public dentists working in the Great Kei Sub-District in the Eastern Cape are required to extract teeth on young children (under the age of six). This study was done to ascertain the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers of young children in this area, and to discover whether there was an association between these factors and the decayed-, missing- and filled teeth (dmft) scores of their children. Literature review: According to a South African study by Mohamed and Barnes (2018), the caries prevalence of children under six was 71.6%. Untreated carious primary teeth may result in pain, infection, masticatory and sleeping issues, malnutrition, and altered growth and development (Setty, 2016). Caregivers have been shown to be the primary source of information regarding the knowledge children develop and put into practice regarding their oral health (Schroth et al., 2007). It has been found that a gap exists between what caregivers know and what they practice; caregivers may agree with the importance of regular dental checkups, yet their children may still exhibit carious lesions (Njoroge, 2007). One of the main reasons forwhich children are hospitalized is decay of the primary dentition (Peerbhay et al., 2012). Aniland Anand (2017) determined that prenatal education of parents should be the starting point for the prevention of ECC. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the knowledge, attitudes, and practices amongst caregivers of young children, regarding early childhood caries, within the Great Kei Sub-District.
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    Perceptions and expectations of final year dental students on the compulsory community service year
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Van Zyl, Wynand Petrus
    Background: Over 24 years have passed since the first cohort of community service dentists participated in the initiative. Research has since examined the program's effectiveness and assessed its original goals of delivering healthcare to underserved rural communities and fostering the development of young clinicians. While much of the available research in South Africa has focused on young medical graduates, there is comparatively little research on the experiences of their dental counterparts. An early study on dental community service was conducted shortly after its implementation in the early 2000s, followed by a second study four years later. These studies highlighted certain concerns, though the follow-up paper concluded optimistically, noting that the Department of Health was making significant progress toward achieving its objectives. However, a 2021 study on dental community service raised serious concerns about the program’s alignment with its initial goals. The researchers called for a radical overhaul of the program and even suggested disbanding it as a potential course of action. Method: In light of the uncertainty and concerns highlighted by previous findings, this study aimed to explore how final-year dental students perceive their upcoming community service year. Unlike earlier research, which focused on young dentists during or after completing their community service year and relied on quantitative cross-sectional methodologies, this study adopted a qualitative approach. Data was collected through semi-structured focus group interviews, offering deeper insights into the students’ perspectives. Results: A total of thirty-four final year BDS students were interviewed, and a thematic analysis method was used by applying the six-step approach of reflexive analysis. The findings showed that final year dental students have perceptions and expectations that can be categorized in two main themes, namely those relating to their career and professional development; and those relating to their personal transition and adaptation from university into their dental careers. Under the former, further sub-themes emerged, namely career-aspirations, -concerns and -decisions. For the latter, sub-themes of coping mechanisms, emotional- and social adjustment were identified. Discussion: The perceptions and expectations of final year dental students towards their upcoming community service year resonates with the literature’s findings of community service dentists, and even medical doctors. Some aspects are long-standing challenges and concerns which are still contributing towards anxiety in the final year students. Despite these concerns final year students are still excited about serving communities during community service. Conclusion: The research identifies areas where concerns can be addressed through collaboration between the National Department of Health and tertiary institutions. Furthermore, they inspire hope through the remarkable resilience, enthusiasm, and commitment to service demonstrated by the next generation of dentists.