Evaluation of Self-reported Stress and Provoking Factors of Conservative Dentistry Clinic Procedures for Clinical Dental Students: A Prospective Study

Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the self-reported stress levels of a cohort of clinical dental students from various conservative dentistry procedures and to identify stress-provoking factors. Materials and Methods: An online survey-based prospective cohort study was conducted on a cohort of 83 clinical dental students from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Data was collected from the cohort of dental students at two measurement points that were twelve months apart. The first point was in the fourth year and the second was in the fifth year. The survey collected socio-demographic data, contained a 7-point Likert stress level scale questions of 6 conservative dentistry procedures (Class I - V and RCT), and YES/NO questions about stress-provoking factors. Wilcoxon signed rank and McNemar tests as well as descriptive statistics were used to evaluate and describe the differences in stress levels between the distinctive characteristics of students. Results: The study found significant differences in the reported stress levels between students, in their fourth and fifth years, in every procedure (p= < 0.001), except for the Root Canal Treatment (RCT) procedure. RCT procedure had the highest reported mean stress levels. Students with distinguished GPAs reported the highest reported stress levels. Female students reported higher mean stress levels in every procedure in the fourth year. The most agreed-upon stress-provoking factor was the availability/quality of dental materials. Conclusions: As students advance through the clinical years, their stress levels from conservative dentistry procedures decrease. Through this study, attention will be directed to the procedures that stress students the most, consequently giving more time or sessions for practicing to ease these procedures and get the best dental treatment outcomes from them with the least amount of stress. Keywords: Stress, Clinical skills/topics, Clinical Procedures, Dental education.