Measuring Dental Student's Awareness and Knowledge About Lingual Orthodontics in Saudi Arabia

Study Design: Cross-sectional Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the student's knowledge about lingual orthodontics in Saudi Arabia Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted after receiving clarifications regarding the objectives of the research and signing a statement of informed consent. The participants of the study comprised of total number of 300 dental students (Male-185; Female-115) with age range from 18- to 30- years-old to understand the knowledge about lingual orthodontics in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was formulated and given and data was collected from dental students. The data were entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20). A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Majority of the dentists 195 (65%) agreed to switch Lingual Orthodontic treatment from traditional braces. As many as 155 (52%) of dental students said that Lingual Orthodontic treatment better than traditional braces. When question was asked regarding the preference of orthodontic treatment they said 36 (12%) for conventional braces, 75 (25%) for self-ligating wire treatment, 69 (23%) for clear aligners and 120 (40%) agreed for Lingual braces treatment respectively. Only 96 (32%) of dental students said that lingual orthodontics will not take up a lot of clinical chair side time, 126 (42%) said yes to above question. Conclusions: Study findings revealed that dental students possess a high level of knowledge and education towards lingual orthodontics. However, further progress is needed on all educational levels, in addition to advanced level training of lingual orthodontics. This questionnaire-based survey was undoubtedly helpful in analyzing how well- versed among dental students.