Periodontitis awareness and knowledge levels among undergraduate dental students

Dental students, as future oral healthcare providers, play a vital role in promoting periodontal health and educating the public. A solid foundational understanding of periodontitis is therefore essential. This study assessed the level of comprehension of periodontitis among dental students at Chulalongkorn University and explored factors associated with their understanding. A cross-sectional questionnaire was administered to 425 undergraduate dental students. Responses to the open-ended question “What is periodontitis?” were qualitatively analyzed and tagged with keywords corresponding to major concepts in the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) (e.g., gingival inflammation, attachment loss). Answers were classified as “totally correct” (TC), “partially correct” (PC), or “incorrect” (IC). Subgroup analyses were performed using the Chi-square tests. Among 425 valid responses, half of the students (50.2%) fell into the (PC) group, suggesting that many students possessed only a partial understanding of periodontitis. Clinical-year students demonstrated a significantly higher proportion of TC responses compared to pre-clinical students (p < 0.001). Mentions of attachment loss were more frequent among clinical students, consistent with greater emphasis on this core feature during clinical training. Academic year was significantly associated with correctness of responses (p < 0.001). Clinical-year students more frequently included both gingival inflammation and attachment loss in their definitions of periodontitis than pre-clinical students, while partially correct responses were common and incorrect responses occurred across academic years, particularly in earlier years. The observed variation across academic years suggests that continued emphasis on core periodontal concepts throughout the curriculum may support more consistent understanding among undergraduate dental students.