Choosing public health dentistry as a career: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the attitude of dental students towards considering Public Health Dentistry as their future career. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire based, cross-sectional survey was conducted, which included dental students from different years of study. It consisted of 27 questions that were graded on five point Likert scale. RESULTS A total of 293 of the 320 registered undergraduate students participated in the study, with an overall response rate of 91.5%. Among the sample, 80 (27%) were males and 213 (73%) were females. Among the total sample which was studied, it was observed that only one third (35.4%) of them had high attitude towards selecting Public Health Dentistry as a future career, and nearly two thirds of them (58.02%) had an average attitude, with very few students having low attitude (6.48%). CONCLUSION The present study concluded that there was an average attitude of 58% among dental students, which showed that they had a considerable amount of interest in pursuing post graduation in this speciality. Efforts should be intensified, both by dental council and by the dental colleges, to develop this speciality, keeping in mind the increasing attitude of dental undergraduates towards it. This also helps in increasing the number of dental personnel who are specialized in implementation of oral health policy, which does not exist in India.