The Spillover Effect of Dental Education on Family Members' Oral Health Behaviors: A Self-Assessment Study
Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi 3. Uluslararası Diş Hekimliği Kongresi, Sivas, Türkiye, 18 - 20 Eylül 2026, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Sivas
- Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: Dental students, as future oral health professionals, may influence the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of their family members through the knowledge and skills they acquire during their education. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of dental education on family members' oral health behaviors, based on dental students' self-assessments.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 269 dental students during the 2025–2026 academic year using an online, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed participants' demographic characteristics, family-related variables, and family members' oral health behaviors before and during the students' dental education, including toothbrushing habits, use of adjunctive oral hygiene products, dietary behaviors, dental check-up frequency, and endodontic-specific knowledge and attitudes. Binary logistic regression, McNemar, Wilcoxon signed-rank, Friedman, binomial, and Spearman correlation tests were used for statistical analysis.
Results: The presence of a healthcare professional in the family was a significant predictor of regular dental check-ups. Following dental education, significant improvements were observed in family members' routine dental check-ups, toothbrushing habits, and use of adjunctive oral hygiene products. Family members' awareness that toothache can originate from the dental pulp increased from 49.4% to 90.0%, and those informed by students were nearly five times more likely to seek urgent dental care. Students' ratings of dental education's overall contribution correlated significantly with perceived improvements in family oral health and endodontic knowledge.
Conclusion: Dental education produces a measurable spillover effect, positively influencing the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of dental students' family members. Dental students appear to function as trusted health advisors within their families, particularly regarding endodontic awareness and treatment-seeking behavior. These findings support the community-level value of dental education beyond individual student competence.